Run
by MissNovelistic
Summary: Clara doesn't want to be a hero. She wants the boy of her dreams, Adam, to date her. She wants to be a normal teen with nothing to fear but the rival soccer team. Unfortunately, life doesn't work out the way she ever plans.
1. Intro

_"_ _Run!" The boy yelled, shoving me in front of him as incentive to get the fuck out of here. I felt the frigid air seem to part ways for us, the wind against our back as an aid to get away._

 _I didn't dare look behind me, instead staring straight ahead as we barreled through the woods, tripping and shoving each other to go faster. My hands and legs were covered in scratches as the only thing I was concerned about was escaping. I couldn't see the face beside me, only glimpses of a black and grey sweater. I screeched to a halt in front of the cliff overlooking Beacon Hills, with nowhere to run. But just as I turned to look back at the boy who was a few feet behind me, he crashed into me, knocking the both of us over the edge. A scream erupted from me as there was no ground to catch us, the feeling of weightlessness taking over. But it wasn't falling through the air weightlessness, it was ten feet underwater with no direction of up kind of weightless. I thrust my arms out in all directions, trying to figure out which way was up, or down, or any way to escape the feeling of not being able to breath._

 _"_ _Clara!" I heard my name being called._

"Clara!" I shot upwards, arms and legs flailing as I reached out to grab at anything to catch me. A scream died in my throat, looking around my darkened room. "What the fuck, Claire?" I swallowed deeply, looking to the person who had awakened me. My much older brother stared at me in shock, slowly letting irritation creep onto his face. "It's four in the fucking morning." His light brown hair was still a mess although he was already dressed in his work clothes. The light from the kitchen flooded my room in yellow light, casting odd shadows against the walls.

"Sorry Finn." I got out, my mouth dry and throat scratchy.

His chestnut eyes seemed to study me for a minute more before he shrugged, leaving me wrapped in my sheets as he left to finish getting ready for work. Sweat dried on the back of my neck. I rubbed my eyes for a moment, wondering if it would be worth it to try sleeping again. It was Thursday, after all. I could easily go back to sleep and be up again before classes. Instead, I peeled the covers away from my body and stood, deciding that it was better to use my time doing something more productive.

"Hey." Finn called from the kitchen. I poked my head out of my door, squinting into the kitchen without my glasses on yet. "Can you drop the rent off today? My parts in the safe." I mumbled a yeah, working out how I was going to make it to the landlord's house between practice and hanging out with my best friend. Finn and I lived in a small 2 bedroom house together, both of us working to afford it. Finn was only 23, but when our dad skipped out on us a few years back, he instantly started picking up the slack so we wouldn't get split up. As soon as I'd been old enough, I got a job at the supermarket to help him out, allowing him to cut back on hours enough so he wasn't constantly working. Our mother had died in a car crash just over five years ago, and it wasn't long after that when our father became so overcome with hatred for us that he left us to fend for ourselves. Back then, it had felt like blow after blow as we had to find a smaller, more affordable home, but now it was just normal.

Finn left within the hour, reminding me again to pay the rent _today_. He still believed that I was irresponsible, and would no doubt be calling me right after school to remind me yet again. Our landlord, Mrs. Davidson, was a decrepit old lady that had pitied us and let us live in the house for a discounted price, but Finn insisted that we couldn't take advantage of it.

The instant that he left, I blasted the top hits radio on Spotify, stepping into the shower to begin my day. The hot water relaxed my muscles, and I tried not to think of the dream as I got ready for school.

The bright side of being up early for school meant that I had plenty of time to pick out an outfit. Normally, I was in a rush from waking up too late that I showered and threw on the comfiest clothes I could before driving to school in a panic.

Today, I leisurely pieced together an outfit and did my makeup. I even had the time to perfect my blonde curls with a curling iron and make my winged liner perfect. I didn't want to admit it, but I wanted a certain boy, Adam, to notice me. He was on the lacrosse team, and a year older than me. We'd hung out at parties a few times before, even hanging out with some friends after practice. I was determined to show him I was girlfriend material. His curly brown hair always seemed perfectly styled, the steely blue eyes always seeming to reflect the grin that so easily crossed his face. I felt a smile spread across my face just thinking about him, and I forced the blush back down as I focused on my task at hand. _Today would be a good day,_ I promised myself.

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for reading this. Just a quick introduction to introduce our protagonist: Clarimond Gallagher. For those of you that are interested, I picture her as Dove Cameron, a bright blonde actress with pale skin and light green eyes. I'll be uploading another chapter (maybe 2) today, so follow this story so you can keep up with it! Enjoy, guys.


	2. Chapter 1

"Clara!" I felt a hand clasp my shoulder, and I grinned at one of my closest friends, Erica Reyes. Her frizzy blonde hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, and she wasn't wearing any makeup. I grinned as we turned into the girls locker room. "Are we still on for tonight?" She asked excitedly.

I nodded, making my way past Lydia and Allison, who were standing right near the door. Allison shot me a quick smile, which I returned. Lydia barely shot me a look, but she nodded at me in acknowledgment. "Absolutely." I told Erica, tossing my backpack into my usual locker. Allison and I sat next to each other in history. I had no classes with Lydia, but I was always invited to her parties, and we always had a fun conversation when we did get around to talking. She wanted me to get together with Adam and was always promising to try and get us on a blind date. "Plus, my brother works all day so we'll have the house to ourselves." Erica grinned, but I could sense her nerves kicking in. "Aw, come on, are you scared of the wall?" I asked jokingly, changing into the black t-shirt with a bat man logo on the front, and some peach colored shorts that would be comfy enough to move around in.

"Says the one who can barely ride elevators without panicking!" She shot back, gathering her clothes in her hand.

"Well I, for one, am determined to make this wall my bitch." I shrugged, following her into the restroom so she could change in a stall. It was true, I had a fear of heights, but that would take a back seat today when I wanted to impress my fellow classmates.

"That makes one of us." She replied quietly. I rolled my eyes, tired of her constantly berating herself. I understood she had low self confidence, but I mean come on. Sometimes it felt like she was trying to bring down my mood with her.

"Look, we just have to get through three more classes, and then we're free to our movie marathon." I heard her sigh, and she opened the stall, a jumble of clothes in her hand.

"It's going to take forever." I shook my head, insistent on being in a good mood.

"Power of positive thinking, babe." I insisted as we made our way into the gym, where Coach Finstock was already relaying the safety rules. I stood next to Erica as Scott McCall and Allison Argent began scaling the wall first, everyone engaged in their own little conversations.

"I think Coach is making me climb with Stiles." Erica whispered beside me. I chanced a look over at the tall brunette, who was watching Scott climb the wall with intensity, making small talk with the guy standing beside him.

"Do you want me to jump in your place?" I asked, recalling Erica's former crush on the spazzy boy.

She shook her head, and I could practically feel nervousness emanating from her. "I might as well face my fears in front of him." I shrugged as the sound of the wire screeching drew our attention back to the wall, where Scott had just fallen several feet. The wire released a last few inches and he smacked into the mat, inciting laughter from the class. Erica tensed beside me, and I reached a comforting hand to her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. Allison gracefully repelled to the bottom, a successful grin on her face.

"Alright, next two!" Coach Finstock called, standing up from beside Scott, where he'd been laughing. "Stilinski, Erica. Let' go! The wall." I saw Stiles look back at us, before dashing forward to the wall in either excitement or nerves.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go?" I asked again, walking with her to the front.

She stared up at the wall in intimidation, not giving me an answer as she passed. A few moments later and her and Stiles began their ascent. I watched with my thumb between my teeth, standing at the front of the crowd. Scott and Allison stood beside me, cheering Stiles on as he easily climbed. Erica, on the other hand, was struggling to pull herself up, her sweatshirt hanging off of her body.

"Come on, Erica. . ." I muttered, one hand crossed over my stomach in nerves. I felt Scott glance at me, but I didn't remove my stare from my friend. Stiles had made it to the top of the wall easily, and was already beginning to rappel to the ground, but Erica had stopped just over halfway up, casting a glance down. I could hear her hyperventilating from the ground, and I cast a glance at Stiles, who was raising his hands in triumph. A whimper from Erica and the gym grew mostly silent, save for a few people groaning in disappointment.

"Erica!" Finstock called, stepping onto the mat and underneath her. "Dizzy?" He asked, and Stiles too turned to look up at her. "Is it vertigo?" He called out.

"Vertigo is a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear." Lydia Martin supplied, crossing her arms in front of her. "She's just freaking out." She added, exasperated. I narrowed my eyes at her, not appreciating her nonchalant attitude.

Coach stepped forward again, looking up the wall. I felt a battle going on inside of me, before I swallowed my nerves. I shoved past Lydia and Coach as he called out to Erica again. She replied that she was fine, although it was obvious to everyone that she was definitely not fine.

"Maybe it's not safe, you know she's epileptic." Allison said as I made it to the wall.

"W-w-why doesn't anyone tell me this stuff?" Coach asked, his own frustration growing. "Erica, you're fine." Coach insisted. I politely shouldered Stiles out of my way, setting a hand on the first hand hold. "Clara? What are you doing?" He asked. I glanced back at him only for a moment before I began climbing the wall. Stiles stared at me in confusion for a moment, looking down at his harness and then back at me. "Get back down here!" Coach yelled, making a grab for my ankle. Just as he was about to grab it, I jumped a little higher up, just out of reach. I could hear him grow angry underneath me, yelling that I could have at least put on the harness, but I ignored him as I made it to eye level with Erica.

"Hey." I whispered quietly. She turned to look at me, a death grip on the wall. "You just hanging out?" I asked calmly, a smile on my face. Despite her fear of heights, and danger, and public humiliation, she sent me a nervous smile. "We can go down together." I told her. She nodded, and I reached out a hand to her shoulder, trying not to think about how high we were. I gently helped her let go of one of the rocks, and the safety wire instantly began lowering her slowly to the ground, leaving me up way too high on the rocks to be comfortable. I watched as Erica made her way down, her at first fearful look turning into one of anger. I felt my eyebrows knit together in confusion, before I began my descent, feeling along the wall for footholds as I slowly lowered down. When I had reached the heads of my fellow students, Scott and Stiles both reached their hands up to keep me from falling the last few feet. I made it down safely, turning to face Coach's wrath as he glared at me.

"If anyone tries that, they will be getting detention." He hissed out at the crowd before turning back to face me. "I think your friend ran off." He added under his breath, but I understood that as code for thanks for getting her down, now go find her.

I ignored the stares of my classmates and made my way calmly to the locker rooms. However, I wasn't the only one heading out.

"That was really nice of you." Allison said from my side.

"Dangerous!" Lydia sang, stepping out from beside Allison.

"I think you mean bad ass!" Stiles said from behind me. "Seriously, you were like a little monkey climbing up that wall." He tried to imitate a monkey, reaching above his head for emphasis. I felt a little laugh escape me, although I was mostly nervous. Why were they following me?

"I bet Coach is going to make you run extra laps tomorrow." Allison told me, trying to make me feel at ease.

"I bet he's going to give me detention." I replied as we exited the double doors. We stood outside of the locker rooms for a moment, me hoping that at least Stiles wouldn't follow me in to the locker room. "If you'll excuse me, I think I need to talk to her alone." I told them quietly as I stood at the entrance to the locker room. If she wasn't here, then it would be rough to find her in the school. But, I had hope that she'd at least go for her normal clothes first.

They nodded in reassurance, backing away from the door as I went in, although I guessed that the second I was in they all piled around the door to try and hear what was going on.

"Erica?" I called out, stepping through the rows of lockers. The smell of too much perfume attempting to cover athlete's foot overpowered the air, and I heard a quiet sniffling coming from where I had tossed my bag.

"Just go away!" Erica's hesitant voice called out.

I sighed and followed the sound slowly, my beat up converse making almost no noise on the tiled floor. "I'm not gonna go away." I called out, finally peaking out from behind the row of lockers. Erica huffed at me, wiping her nose with her sweatshirt sleeve. "You wanna talk about it?" I asked as I took a seat across from her, trying hard to appear casual.

"Fine, you want to talk about it?" She asked me threateningly, leaning forward with red eyes. "I am so _sick_ and _tired_ of you trying to swoop in and save the day!" My jaw dropped in shock, whatever I had been expecting, it was not this. "I mean, seriously? Is that why you hang out with me?" She asked, standing up. "So you can make yourself look better?" She scoffed down at me, her hand flying to hit one of the lockers near me. The loud thud from her hand made me jump, but I remained staring at one spot on the floor. "Say something!" She yelled down at me. And yet I stayed frozen, my brain about ten steps behind this moment. "Pathetic." She spat down at me and stormed out of the locker room, not even bothering to grab her things.

Had Erica always felt that way? I mean, I knew that she bottled things up. And I'd been at the receiving end of her explosions before. But it had never felt directed at me before. There was a tiny part of me niggling at the back of my brain. Was she right? Was I just using her to make myself look better?

It's not like I didn't have other friends. I could easily flit among social groups, never pausing long enough to really put down roots like I had with Erica. Maybe I just felt safer with her? Like I knew that she would never abandon me. And yet, here I was, my back resting against the cold lockers with my mouth still agape.

It was only moments between Erica leaving that Allison and Lydia stormed in, either from wanting to attempt to comfort me or just to be able to hear firsthand what tragedy had happened so they could pass it along the gossip train. I halfheartedly insisted I was fine, instead changing back into my outfit.

"Do you want me to sic the soccer players on her?" Lydia asked as she pulled her shirt over her head.

"No, it's fine." I insisted, tugging the black wrap skirt on. "She's just scared." I added, ignoring the way my eyes burned with unshed tears. My maroon tank top paired with the tan leather jacket I was sporting, the cute black suede ankle boots bringing me a few inches taller than I normally was.

"Seriously, it wasn't cool of her to say that stuff to you." Allison told me, waiting for both Lydia and I to finish getting dressed.

"It's really not a problem." I insisted, checking my hair in the mirror. "Do you think I should go after her?" I asked, turning to face both of them.

"Absolutely not."

"No." They said at the same time. I pursed my lips and we made our way into the hallway outside the gym, choosing to sit on a bench across the locker rooms instead of going back into the gym. For the rest of the period, we ignored the topic of Erica, instead making small talk about our incoming midterms.

Coach finally released the rest of our classmates about ten minutes before class ended, flooding the hall with students. Erica, of course, was not among them. I bit back my growing resentment towards her. She could sort this out on her own.

When the hall was almost empty again, we began gathering our bags to head our separate ways when Scott burst out of the boys locker room, still in his gym clothes. He didn't even look at us as he sprinted into the gym, Stiles stumbling after him. Lydia, Allison, and I shot each other a look before we dropped what we were gathering and ran after him. We ran in the doors, just as a body fell from the top of the rock wall. I recognized the hair as Erica's, and a gasp escaped my lips as Scott was suddenly catching her. Her body twitched in his arms.

"She's having a seizure!" I yelled, Allison and I both running forward without hesitation.

"Turn her on her side, turn her on her side!" Allison yelled as she slid on her knees the last few feet. I knew we couldn't do anything for her until she came out of it, only hoping for the best.

I sat beside her dutifully, shivering myself in fear as her body twitched helplessly. Coach was suddenly beside us, instructing someone to call 911. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked next to me to see Stiles offering me a forced smile, attempting to console me as we sat around Erica.

I pursed my lips back at him, laying my own hand on top of his and squeezing before we both dropped our hands. Erica may have been mad at me, and I may be frustrated with her, but that didn't mean that I didn't want her to suffer from a seizure.

Yet, guilt was crawling up the back of my throat. I knew, logically, that it was impossible that I had anything to do with this. But she was still my friend. We were in an argument. It was like my anger had manifested itself in the form of physical torment.

Even as they were wheeling her away to an ambulance, I felt nothing but shock.

 **Author's note: The official Chapter 1 is now up! Hope you enjoyed it! Please review, and sit tight for the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

"Do you want to come over and talk about it?" Jessica, one of the girls on the soccer team asked me. I shook my head, taking my turn to kick the ball into the goal.

"I'm fine, I've got errands to run." I supplied as an excuse. I was a big girl, I could handle it by myself. The boys on the lacrosse team were practicing on the other half of the field, normal for a Thursday afternoon. I saw Scott and Stiles conversing in a corner of the field. I stared at them for a moment. Did Erica's seizure mean we were friends now? I mean, I'd always been friendly, but never exactly _friends_ as I was with Erica.

Scott turned around as if he sensed me staring, and he grinned and waved, Stiles copying him. I smiled back and waved, quickly turning back to the task at hand. Thursday meant practice game, and it was my turn to be forward.

"Alright ladies!" Coach Terry called out. Her brown hair was pulled back into her normal ponytail, the hair barely long enough to gather at the nape of her neck. "You know the rules. First team to 5 goals gets to leave early, the losing team has to run 5 laps. Tomorrow is a rest day-" A few of the girls immediately began whispering. Fridays were game days, but since we didn't have a game scheduled, everyone assumed we'd be having practice. "-Because I have a date." A few whoops and whistles spread among us. Coach Terry shushed us before ordering us to the field to start our mock game, reds vs blues. I was a red, which meant I was wearing a mesh red jersey over my tank top. The field we practiced on was one big soccer field, which allowed the school to force two different teams side by side. Normally, I was excited at the prospect of showing off my skills in front of the Lacrosse team for Adam. But today, I was ready to be done so I could check up on Erica.

I had begun jogging to my normal starting position, as a right midfielder.

"Clara!" Coach called out to me. I turned over my shoulder, and she was looking down at her clipboard. "I want you to be the offensive midfielder." My eyebrows raised in surprise. Normally this spot was reserved for the team Captain, Lauren. Since Lauren was playing on the other team, I had assumed it would be filled in by Tally, who was a year older than me and a shoe in for being next year's captain.

Immediately, I heard her start to protest, but Coach shut her down with a wave of her hand and a look that said _Leave it_. "I heard what you did for your friend." She focused her eyes on me, and I smiled politely as I went into position.

Starting as offensive midfielder meant that I would face down Lauren for the ball first. Despite being a bit nervous, I was mostly excited. As a sophomore, I was lucky to be playing First Line. And now, if I made myself look good, I might even be playing a better position than defensive Winger, who pretty much kept the opposing soccer team from scoring goals.

"Good luck." Lauren told me with a grin, getting into position. I grinned back, copying her movements as Coach came to stand beside us with the soccer ball.

"Ladies, are you ready?" Coach Terry called out. We all yelled out our yes, a few of the girls cheering their excitement. During a normal game, a coin would be tossed to determine who got first kick. During our mock games, she found it more exciting if we fought over the ball right away. She backed away, and as soon as she was on the edge of the field, she blew her whistle. The ball was tossed into the air, and I saw Lauren get her leg ready to kick it out of the way as soon as it hit the ground.

However, I had a different plan. I jumped as high as I could, knocking the ball with my head and toward one of my teammates, a chorus of oooh's escaping my teammates as I stole the ball from Lauren. We didn't waste any time sprinting to follow the ball, the girl I had passed it dribbling it between her feet as one of the opposing players blocked her path. She passed it to another girl, but it got intercepted, the kick sending it halfway down the field. The blue team member got caught up near the goal, and tried to back up to keep it away from my team members. Just as the rest of the players surrounded her, I came from her side and kicked it out of her feet, kicking the ball far enough away from her that she couldn't steal it back, but also making me chase after it before it could be taken by the other team. I made it first and continued kicking it and chasing it down the field, rushing past the lacrosse boys that had stopped their practice to watch us. When I was clear of the jumble of bodies, I scanned the field to see who was nearer to the goal. When I spotted Tally open, I kicked it towards her just as one of the opposing players pushed my body away. I smashed into the ground and flipped over to see who had shoved me. Lauren stood above me, a playful grin on her face as she stuck a hand out to me.

"You okay, Claire?" Coach called out, her whistle already ready to stop the game for a penalty kick. I nodded my head, taking Lauren's outstretched hand.

"I'm good, Coach!" I called out, turning back to the game. I turned back just in time to see Tally kick the ball straight through the net, giving myself a moment to cheer her on.

The goalie, Jessica, grabbed the ball grudgingly and began scanning the field for someone to pass it to. Lauren had left my side, backing up to open herself up. I jogged backwards as the ball began its arc towards her. I knew that Lauren was right behind me, attempting to push me out of the way. Unfortunately for her, I stepped forward and launched myself into the air again, once again knocking the ball with my head to keep it away from her. Once Lauren got ahold of a ball, I knew from experience that it was impossible to get it from her. She yelled out in frustration, and when I turned back to face her, her eyes were narrowed at me in frustration.

"Nice job, Gallagher." She smiled at me and patted my shoulder, leaving me to grin as she ran to try and catch up with the ball, where my team was already trying to score another goal.

I allowed myself a moment of personal victory. It was hard to get a compliment from upperclassmen, much less Lauren. She was definitely known as a hard ass.

"Get back in the game!" Coach yelled at me, and I waved her off as I began jogging back to the action.

Despite beginning the game well, after our three goals, my team began to wear down, and Lauren's team picked up on our slack. They managed four goals, three of them being made by Lauren right after the other. I managed to score a goal to bring us to a tie, and Coach let us take a water break to let us really rile ourselves up against each other. We all knew it was just play, but neither teams wanted to stay to run the 5 loser laps.

"Nice skills." I turned to see Adam standing behind me, the rest of Lacrosse team running as they were wrapping up practice.

"Not so bad yourself." I winked, taking a quick swig from my water bottle. Despite my confident attitude, I was practically shaking in my cleats.

"I heard you climbed the rock wall without a harness to talk a girl down." He grinned at me, his perfect smile causing my cheeks to burn. I knew that I was already red from exertion, but I still didn't want him to know it was because of him. "That's pretty impressive." I smiled a bit wider at the compliment, waving it off like it was nothing.

"Listen, a few of us are going out tomorrow after the game. You want to come?" I shrugged, knowing that I had already planned a night in. But if it was to hang out with Adam, would she really be mad?

And then I remembered that she was being a bad friend. I deserved to hang out with the cute boy I had a crush on. "Sure." I finally answered. "I'll be seeing you at the game, right?" I asked with a tilted head, my ponytail swinging behind me.

He leaned in a bit closer to me, making my heartbeat rise a bit. "Of course, Gallagher." He grinned and leaned back out, jogging backwards with a wave goodbye to join the rest of the team running laps.

Coach Terry blew the whistle, and I shook off the butterflies in my stomach to focus on finishing up the game.

Lauren had traded places with a girl a lot taller than me, knowing that I would try another jump as we began the game. There was no way I'd be able to jump high enough before Alice, the girl standing in front of me, would beat me to it.

I bit my lip as coach called ready, this time knowing that I wouldn't be able to get the ball to my teammates right off the bat. When the ball was tossed into the air, I made a different plan. When I jumped up, it was as close as I could get to Alice without touching her. She instinctively pushed me away in mid air, and I was slamming into the ground before I could register what happened. This time, Coach didn't ask if I was okay before she blew her whistle, halting the game. I stayed on the ground for another second, pushing up from the ground only when the Coach was at my side.

"What the hell was that, Alice?" I yelled loudly, although I had been anticipating the push.

"You were on me!" She yelled in defense.

"I wasn't even touching you!" I yelled as Coach broke us up.

"You okay Gallagher?" Coach asked, looking me over for broken bones. I nodded, standing up and brushing myself off. "Penalty kick!" Coach yelled out. My team erupted in cheers, while the blue team groaned, knowing that from this distance, it was pretty hard not to miss a shot.

We lined up in rows opposite each other, forming a barricade between the goal and myself. I grinned as I stood in front of everyone, shaking my legs out as I prepared to run at the ball.

"Well, blue team. Enjoy your losing laps!" I called out as I began my short run, kicking the ball into the upper corner of the goal. The goalie attempted to jump for it, but my aim had put it in her non-dominant corner, so she didn't jump quite as high as the ball. When it sunk into the net, my team cheered, patting me on the back as we were granted permission to leave. I mockingly stuck my tongue out at Alice, the girl who had pushed me. She looked annoyed, but I knew it wasn't anything to get too worried about.

As I was gathering my stuff up, I was surprised to see Scott and Stiles approaching me.

They both looked tired, but I'd be more surprised if they hadn't looked exhausted. "Nice game." Scott told me as I shouldered my duffle bag.

"Thanks!" I answered with a smile as we began walking towards the locker rooms. "Are you guys coming to the game tomorrow night?"

Stiles threw an arm over my shoulder casually, practically putting all of his weight on me. "We always go to our favorite field sharing teams games!" I laughed and threw an arm around his waist to better hold him up.

"Well as long as you guys come to mine, I'll go to yours on Tuesday!" I replied as we entered the school building.

"Looking forward to it, Gallagher!" Stiles called out as we split up at the locker rooms, giving me a mock salute as he turned into the boys locker room. Scott just smiled at me with a quick "seeya."

I turned into the locker room, where most of my team members cheered me on, making jokes about how I sacrificed myself for the good of the team.

I left soon after, dropping off the rent for the landlady before beginning my way home.

 **AN: Thanks for hanging tight guys! Hope this tides you over. Please review! I should be putting the next chapter up on Monday! :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Surprise! I wanted to give a treat as a thanks for those of you that reviewed. Hope you enjoy this one! We're finally getting to see some of Clara's personality. Also, just wanted to clarify that Claire/Clara is a nickname, her full name will be shown in the next chapter! Remember to review :)**

It wasn't until I was at home, heating up some slices of pizza from the night before that I realized Erica still hadn't called me. I wasn't upset at all, I mean she was probably still in the hospital. She probably wasn't even allowed to use her phone. I called her anyways, letting it go to voicemail before hanging up and sending her a quick text to call me back.

I vegged out in front of the tv for a few hours, my impatience growing while I waited for any word from her.

The instant my phone rang, I picked it up without looking away from the tv.

"Erica?" I asked instantly.

"Err. . No. Finn." I sighed and slouched down again as my brother asked once again if I had dropped the rent off.

"Yes, yes. It's in her drop box." I assured.

"So you're not hanging out with Erica?" He asked, the sound of construction going on behind him. "I thought you guys were having a movie marathon."

"No, she actually had a seizure at school. I think she's still in the hospital."

"Aww, that sucks kiddo." He grew staticky for a minute as I heard him talking to someone in the background. "Listen, I gotta go. I'm getting off at 10 tonight, so I'll see you tonight or tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay." I replied. "Wait, are you coming to the game tomorrow night?" He groaned, and I grew just a bit dejected.

"Sorry, I picked up a shift." I sighed, knowing that it was important for him to work, but also resenting him just a little. "Tell Erica I hope she feels better, I'll see you later. Love you."

"You too." I answered before tossing my phone away and turning my focus back to the tv show. This sucked.

Erica hadn't shown up in any of our classes, and I sent her repeated texts asking what happened. I never got any reply though. I had been standing just outside the doors of the cafeteria when Adam invited me to sit with him. I had intended on sitting outside, but when he offered the seat in front of him, I'd immediately agreed.

"Are you ready for the game tonight?" Adam asked as we sat opposite. I grinned and nodded, more excited at what we'd be doing after the game than the actual game.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" I asked, tearing into my trail mix.

"Well, a few of us are going out to the clearing tonight to celebrate." He replied with a mischievous smile.

"Celebrate what?" I asked jokingly, though a knowing smile was on my face.

"Well, I just so happen to know that our star sophomore is going to kick ass tonight." He had been leaning forward to me, but when a hand came between us, he leaned back and stared at the intruder.

I followed the arm up to a blonde girl leaning seductively over the table. "Erica?" I practically spat out. She was wearing a leather jacket with a way too short skirt, a white tank top barely covering her chest. She looked at me while she grabbed Adam's apple from his tray, taking a bite of it as she leaned up, wiping the edges of her bright red lipstick as she looked behind me.

"Where the fuck have you been?" I hissed quietly, anger growing inside me as Adam just _stared_ at her. I couldn't blame him, she looked gorgeous, balancing precariously on the edge of slutty.

She didn't answer me, instead she raised her eyebrows with a smirk before turning to make her way out of the cafeteria. I stood from the table to follow her, smoothing my maroon dress out. The shoes I was wearing, a black ankle boot with a chunky ankle, allowed me to follow her quickly, smashing the doors open and chasing her down the hall.

"What the fuck, Erica?" I called out. She was walking quickly, purposefully ignoring me. "What the fuck _happened_ to you?" I hissed, suddenly feeling desperate for chasing after her. She was like an entirely new person, completely confident and apparently not caring about my feelings at all.

She smirked at me and tossed the bitten apple into the trash can without even looking. I shot a look back at the trash can before focusing all of my attention on Erica.

"Seriously, why didn't you call me last night? I was worried!" I grabbed her by the elbow, trying to get her to face me, but she shoved me into the wall, brushing me off. I was more in shock that she had pushed me than I was angry at her for the moment. When Stiles and Scott fumbled past me and after Erica, I followed them out the double doors, only to see Erica climbing into a shiny black Camaro. Some guy with black hair in the drivers seat turned to look at me, Stiles, and Scott, and shot us a wide grin as Erica buckled in beside him.

"Who the fuck is that?" I asked as Erica and the mystery man drove off. I saw Scott and Stiles exchange a look before looking back at me. They looked back at each other before shrugging. I glared daggers at them as they headed back inside while I stood in the cold, more confused than I had been before.

Was something going on? What the fuck was Erica taking to make her like this? Steroids? Could steroids do that to a person? I mean, the change was literally overnight. How is that even possible? Why were Scott and Stiles chasing Erica down? Maybe they had been chasing after me, to make sure I was alright. Well, if that had been the reason they did a pretty terrible job of it. They hadn't even stopped to ask me if I was okay. Maybe it wasn't me they were after. . . Maybe they knew something that I didn't? But apart from yesterday, had they ever even talked to her? I mean I knew Erica had had a crush on Stiles for the longest time, but apart from a handful of carefully dissected conversations she'd had with him, there was nothing. I couldn't even remember her saying anything about Scott.

I was forced to bite back my questions and finish out my school day. I had received several "good luck!" wishes from classmates, but it wasn't until I was on the field in my maroon jersey with 12 printed on the back that I was even feeling remotely better. Although I had done good playing offensive midfielder, Coach had put me as left midfielder to keep me near the action, but allowed Lauren to keep near the middle.

We got first kick, and Lauren kicked the ball towards me to make my way down the field. I wasted no time in sprinting away from the opposing team members, trying to pull them away from my teammates so I could pass it off.

The game forced me to take my mind off of my frustrations with Erica, allowing me and my team members to dominate the field. During a break between quarters, I looked to the stands to scan for my friend. Scott and Stiles were waving a sign back and forth with my number drawn on, and I shot them a grin and a wave to acknowledge it before continuing my scan. Adam was sitting towards the top with a few of the other lacrosse players, absorbed in a conversation. I was glad that he had come. I was even more glad when he looked down for a second, catching my eye and waving.

I shot a wave back before continuing my search, scanning the stands for my best friend. When I didn't see her the first time around, I scanned again. Erica never missed my games. Was she seriously that mad? I shook off my frustration as the whistle blew, letting all the players congregate to the field.

During the last half, I managed to score a goal, right before one of the opposing players tripped me as I was walking backwards. She shrugged at me while I sat on the ground, glaring daggers at the girl. When the game resumed, I made sure to stay on her, not allowing anyone to pass the ball to her. I could feel the waves of anger growing towards me.

"Back the fuck off bitch!" She hissed at me as I kept her guarded. I smirked as she got riled up, someone making the mistake of kicking a ball in her direction. I may be tiny, but that does not mean I can't beat someone to a ball. She took off sideways, thinking that she got away from me, but I shot after her and jumped in front of her, sliding in front of her. I was able to kick the ball towards my team mates, her own kick narrowly missing my head. I jumped back up and turned to face her. The girl rounded on me, her face red with anger. I smirked when she suddenly swung an arm out, her hand hitting just underneath my right eye. I fell backwards, one hand covering my eye, the other pushing me up from the grass. I heard the whistle blow, but it sounded far away as anger built up inside me.

"You want to fight?!" I yelled, launching myself towards her. A few pairs of arms suddenly hauled me backwards, my punches landing on nothing.

"Calm down, Claire!" I took a deep breath and turned away from the girl, instead looking at my teammates. Jessica, Lauren, and even Tally stood around me, inspecting my eye. Ensuring that there would be no lasting damage as the referee made the announcement for a penalty kick. I saw the other girls teammates yelling at the girl, pissed for giving me a chance to score. When she looked over her shoulder at me, I flipped her off. I took great enjoyment from the fact that she had to be restrained by her teammates while I strode up to the penalty line, the ref placing the ball in front of me. As soon as I was allowed, I kicked it to the right of the goalie, nailing the edge of the post so that it went in right behind her. The crowd cheered and I pumped a fist in triumph. This put us at 3 goals ahead of the opposing team, and with just two minutes left in the game, all we had to do was run the time down.

I didn't have to do much the last few minutes, mostly just run back and forth in case a ball was passed my way. When time was up, the entire team and the bystanders ran onto the field to celebrate, the opponents sulking off to the locker rooms.

"Congratulations, Clara!" I heard Stiles greet. I spun in a circle to see him with Scott. Scott gave me a high five while Stiles clumsily threw his arms around me, making me laugh and pat him on the back.

"Come on, you don't want to smell like sweat!" I joked, pushing him off.

"But it's winning sweat!" He protested, reaching out towards me again. I smacked his arms down as one of the girls on my team congratulated me on getting punched. Stiles and Scott both leaned in to look at it, where there was barely a bruise forming. I grinned at them as Scott suddenly stood straight up, looking around. Stiles, however, poked at it, making me smack his hand away from my face.

"It's my victory bruise, don't touch it!" I joked, holding a hand over the tender skin. He grinned and shouldered my bag for me, catching me slightly off guard.

"Allow me to carry your winning duffle bag, milady." I rolled my eyes, but made no move to take it back as we began to head towards the locker room. "So, a few of us are breaking into the ice skating rink later." Stiles commented. "Well, breaking in is taking it a bit far- Boyd is letting us use his keys for a very high price, although I'm sure it would be worth it. Everyone loves ice skating. Not breaking into places. Do you? Like ice skating, I mean." He spewed as we reached the parking lot. I was heading into the school to change, but my mind was about two steps behind what he was saying.

"What?" I asked, suddenly turning to face him with a smile on my face. Was he really asking me out? I mean, we'd barely talked. I looked him over for a minute, taking in the way his cheeks were rapidly becoming splotched with red. His normally easy to see brown eyes were barely visible in the dark of the night. He was cute, he was definitely cute. I remembered the way Erica used to talk about him, as though the light of the day shot out of his goofy grin. Right now his goofy grin was nowhere in sight, and he seemed to be pursing his lips and gulping down his hesitation.

He immediately dropped his head as he caught me staring, before lifting it back to look at me under his lashes. "Did you want to, I don't know. . ." He scratched behind his neck for a second looking over my shoulder with only occasional glances to my face.

This time it was my turn to hesitate, thinking of Adam and the long awaited and anticipated date tonight.

"N-not like a date!" Stiles added when he noticed my hesitation. "As friends!" He shook his head adamantly, throwing his hands in front of him. "It's going to be a date for Allison and Scott, and Lydia is coming too so definitely not like a date-date." I looked over his shoulder, back to the soccer field, where I spotted Adam and his friends just climbing down the bleachers. "Like a friendly gathering, you could say."

"I'm sorry, Stiles." I told him honestly, gently taking back my bag. "I've already got plans tonight." I felt horrible saying it, as Stiles really was a nice person, but I'd already made my obligations for the night. I felt more rushed now that Adam was making his way towards the parking lot. "Rain check?" I asked as I backed towards the school as slowly as I could.

"No, yes!" Stiles shot me thumbs up, a cheesy grin taking over his face. "Absolutely, a rain check!" He turned away from me to walk back towards the soccer field, and I sighed before turning back to the school to jog through the parking lot. With every pounding of my feet, I was overcome with thoughts of Stiles. I had never thought of him in any light other than _the boy Erica had a crush on._ But right now, where was Erica? Was she even my friend right now? If Erica and I were friends, did that mean that Stiles was no longer off limits to me? Did I want to do off limits things with him?

When I emerged a few minutes later, I'd done everything I could to improve my post-game look. I was wearing a pair of loose jeans that were rolled up a few inches, the same pair of shoes from this morning, with a loose sweatshirt that tied into a knot on the corner of my stomach, exposing just a bit of skin. My hair was tied into a messy bun at the top of my head. I was also wearing a black moto jacket that was left opened, allowing a chill to run against my skin.

Adam was waiting beside my car, our predetermined meet up spot, playing with his phone before he caught sight of me. "Cute." He called out, and I fought back the blush that was creeping across my face, instead twirling with one arm out to give him a better view.

"Not so bad yourself, Adam." He grinned at me, and I threw my stuff in the back seat before climbing in, Adam hopping in the passenger side to direct me.

In about fifteen minutes, we made it to the campgrounds, which was mostly used by teenagers looking for a place to drink.

And, that's exactly what we did. I knew most of the guys as lacrosse players, but the girls were a mix between my fellow soccer players and a few girls that were just plain popular. When the drinks started flowing, someone started a bonfire, and we sat around it talking as someone used a Bluetooth speaker to play some chill music.

"So, I saw you talking with Stilinski earlier." Adam said, an arm thrown casually around my shoulders. I, however, was very casually trying to keep it there. I took a sip of the cheap beer someone had handed me, praying that it didn't look like I was nervous.

"Yeah he's a friend." I finally answered, wondering suddenly if he was jealous. He had nothing to be jealous of, of course. I mean, apart from Stiles' little act of asking me to hang out with him and Scott, we hadn't hung out outside of school.

"Just a friend?" Adam asked, leaning a bit closer to my face. I grinned and leaned forward too.

"Just a friend." I promised, Adam's eyes closing as he pressed his lips to mine. I leaned into his, one of my hands resting on his neck as he kissed me. His lips pressed into mine a bit harder, the arm that had been around my shoulders sliding so that I was pressed closer to him. My mind drifted. Vaguely, I recalled that we'd been discussing Stiles just before we kissed. It was cold here, and sitting around a bonfire was fun. Even as I kissed Adam, I kind of wished I had gone ice skating.

"Claiireeee." I heard my name being drug out, and I pulled apart from Adam to look across the fire to see Erica, a red cup in one of her hands, the other on her hip as she gestured for me to come towards her.

I felt anger flare up in me, and I apologized to Adam before I stood up. He let one hand slide down my arm before tugging me down to kiss him again, this time to the cheers of the boys.

I grinned and walked over to Erica, who grabbed my wrist before pulling me away from the throng of people. "What?" I hissed when we were out of hearing distance.

"What?" Erica asked innocently. "I wanted to talk to my best friend." She shrugged.

I rolled my eyes, but my heart was battling itself. Did I want to stick around and hear what she had to say? Or did I want to forget about her and move on? I mean, Adam was waiting for me. Yet I found myself leaning against a tree, waiting for Erica to give herself a chance for redemption.

"So what happened?" I asked, trying not to seem too eager.

She took a step closer, her blue eyes staring into mine. I didn't look away, instead I stood taller. I was not going to back down.

"I met someone." She finally whispered as if it were a delicate secret.

"Oh you mean the guy in the black Camaro?" I asked innocently. "The one that you ran to after you tried to seduce Adam?" I asked, my anger rising in my throat once again.

She narrowed her eyes at me, taking another step to trap me against the tree. She stayed like that for a moment before grinning and taking a step back. I refused to let her see me cower although I felt my heart jumping into my throat with every beat.

"He gave me something." She began, twirling in front of me. _Drugs?_ I thought instantly. "Look at how _awesome_ I am now!" She held her hands up, trying to get me to see how great she felt. "I mean, I'm stronger, prettier, just _better!"_ I narrowed my eyes, trying to see to her point.

"What did he give you? Cocaine?" I asked snarkily. She rolled her eyes.

"I can't _tell_ you." She strode back up to me, holding both of my shoulders again. "But you can get it too." I recoiled against the tree.

Erica knew how I felt about drugs. They'd ruin my chances to get into a good college. "I don't want your drugs." I commented.

Erica laughed at me for a moment in disbelief. "You can't get this from something so simple like _drugs."_ She waved at her body up and down.

My eyebrows scrunched together in thought. If it wasn't drugs, what had this guy she was dating _done_ to her? I stepped closer to her, setting one hand on her shoulder. "Whatever is going on with you. . ." I started, and I used my free hand to smooth down her hair. "Whatever it is, it is not a good enough reason to turn on your friends." I gave her shoulder a squeeze, intent on going back to the party to try and salvage my night.

"Clara, please wait!" She called out, grabbing one of my wrists. I didn't fight it, instead allowing her to spin me around without resistance. "Look, I'll make up how shitty I have been towards you. I'm sorry, okay?" She began to sound sincere, and I sighed. My lips pursed, but I reached out to pull her into a hug. "We never got to have our movie marathon." I smiled into her hair, my anger like ice just beginning to melt. But, it was still one hell of an iceberg to thaw.

"Fine. Be at my house tomorrow afternoon, okay?" She nodded and squeezed me before pulling away.

"You won't regret this, I promise." She looked me up and down again, a smile crossing her face. She spun me back around to face the party, her hands still on my shoulders. "Plus, we can finally compare notes on our boyfriends!" She let slip, giving me a final squeeze on my shoulder before pushing me back to the party. I turned over my shoulder to flash a grin, but she had already scampered off. Even just a quick scan of the trees around me showed no signs of her even being with me.

I shook off the weird feeling of being watched and headed back to the large group, the buzz I had been working on completely gone.

 **Dun dun duuuun! Erica is being a manipulative jerk and Claire is falling for it! What will happen next for our poor protagonist? If there's anything you guys want me to write, like a certain scene, let me know and I will do my best to oblige! Reviews inspire me to keep working :)**


	5. Chapter 4

Later that night, after several drinks and what felt like hours of dancing, I finally insisted I was okay enough to drive home. Adam had walked me back to my car. He'd pressed me against the car, kissing me until we were both panting. I dreamt that night of him kissing me again, but every time I pulled back I saw Stiles grinning down at me instead of Adam. When I woke up, I entertained the thought of Stiles in bed for a few minutes before shaking the thought and getting ready to face my day.

"Morning, sleepyhead." I joked as my brother trudged out of his room when the coffeemaker went off.

"Christ, I need my weekend." Was all he said, collapsing on the couch with his cup of coffee. I sat on the chair next to him as he turned the tv on, switching it to a show we were watching together.

We made small talk for a little over an hour, him updating me on his new relationship with a girl named Karen, and me telling him about Adam. He high fived me when I told him we'd kissed last night, but threatened to take my keys away when I told him I'd been drinking and driving.

My brother and I were close. Like, uncomfortably close for a brother and sister. He always alerted me when he planned on bringing girls home. He listened to me talk about my boy drama, and understood that I, as a teenager with hormones, was engaging in sexual activity. But as long as I was careful, he would never judge me for my choices. I loved Finn. Sometimes it felt like he had been there for me more than my parents ever had.

We never really talked about our parents, as it was still a sore subject. There was nothing like the knowledge that your father was out somewhere, living his life, not caring that he'd abandoned two kids who had needed him more than ever. I knew that sometimes my brother cheated on girlfriends, and on occasion he'd drink himself into a stupor, but he was always back to normal within the next few days. Finn was strong for a 23 year old, but sometimes I wondered just how much of a toll raising me was. If my father had stuck around, would we still spend our Saturday mornings being lazy on the couch? Would Finn and I even be talking?

"So how is Erica?" He asked, refilling our cups with coffee.

"Uh, she's great. I guess." I answered, turning my attention to my nails.

"You guess?" He prodded, sitting back on the couch.

"I don't know. She's being weird. Like. . . Like she's been taking something that's been making her super pretty and confident all of a sudden." I didn't want to tell him that she'd made an offer to me for whatever she was taking.

"Shouldn't you be happy for her?" Finn set his coffee on the table, reclining in the seat.

"I should. . ." I trailed off. "But she just keeps leaving me behind, you know?" I struggled to get out without revealing too much. "Like she never even called me after her seizure, and then showed up Friday and ignored every question I asked. But then last night at the fire, she just apologized and said she'd make it up to me. And now she wants to come over tonight for our movie marathon, but it just doesn't feel right, you know?" I burst like a dam, not having intended to go into such detail. Regardless, I turned onto my stomach so I could look at him while he gave me his wise-brotherly advice.

"Do you think you might just be jealous?" He asked with a joking smile. I was a _Gallagher,_ we don't get jealous. I threw my pillow at him in mock anger, and he laughed as he swatted it aside. "Seriously though. Maybe you're just not used to the shift of attention and the weirdness you feel is a new dynamic you're not used to. Give it a few days, you two will be joined at the hip again." I nodded in appreciation of his perspective. Maybe he was right. Maybe underneath her cockiness was still the same Erica.

We spent the rest of the morning being lazy around the house, until I had to go to work. I worked at the local pizza place, usually just as a cashier, although occasionally I picked up a waitressing shift. Especially on my free Friday and Saturday nights when I knew there'd be plenty of good tips.

The job was pretty easy, and many of the other workers often tried to call out, giving me plenty of chances to take up extra shifts when I needed it.

I had once offered to get Erica a job here, but she'd insisted she didn't want one, and instead the position had gone to my teammate Jessica. She had long brown hair that was always stick straight, and she was a lot taller than me. However, she was nice and we always had a good time when we worked together.

"There she is!" Jessica called out as I walked in, already rolling silverware. "How's your eye?" She asked, squinting to see under my glasses. Normally, I wore my contacts everywhere, but there were just days like today where I didn't want to wear them.

I had honestly forgotten about even being punched. The skin that had felt so tender last night was back to normal, and my skin didn't even have a bruise. I shrugged it off as I sat beside her, picking up a fork and knife to roll into a soft napkin with her.

"I feel great actually." I told her with a smile.

She nudged my shoulder, a suggestive grin on her face. "So you took Adam home, right?"

"No!" I replied defensively. "Although I definitely thought about it."

Jessica squealed and knocked into me excitedly. "So are you guys like, going steady?" She asked, her eyes carefully watching the blush rising on my face.

"This is not the 1950's!" I told her. "I am not limiting myself to one boy that is probably seeing three other girls on the side." I told her as the bell rang, indicating someone had walked in.

"Is there anyone else, then?" She asked, keeping her eyes on me while she gathered menus to take to the customers.

"I don't know. Maybe." I finally said, making her groan in frustration at my lack of information. A smile spread across my face unconsciously as I thought of Stiles goofy grin from Thursday.

"Oh, hey Stiles! Sheriff Stilinski, welcome!" Jessica called out. I had turned around at Stiles' name, not quite believing that he'd managed to walk in just when I'd been thinking of him.

And yet, there he was, following Jessica to a table with his back to me. I sat forward again, indecisive about how to react. I mean, did I want to be casual and notice him later, or did I want to get up now to go greet them? Would I look like a jerk if I pretended I hadn't heard his name being called out?

When I heard Jessica making their drinks, I made my move, offering to take the table from her.

"Why do you want it so bad?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in curiosity. "Does Stilinski tip good?"

I rolled my eyes at her, wavering between wanting to tell her or not. "Remember when I said there might be someone else?" I hinted, nodding my head towards Stiles' table. Her eyebrows shot up, and she leaned around the corner to look at Stiles, before looking back to me.

"Really?" She asked, getting the tray ready with their drinks before sliding it back to me.

I didn't answer her, instead setting the tray on my hand and shrugging with nonchalance while walking backwards.

I turned back to face the pair as soon as Jessica was out of my sight. Stiles was wearing a long sleeved t-shirt, the torso of it a light grey and the sleeves a forest green color. He had his menu splayed out on the table, pointing at something while looking very seriously across the table.

"Hey there, Stilinski." I casually called out, causing both of them to look over at me. I faltered in my stride, the momentary lapse in memory that both of them had the same last name. "Uh, sorry." I got out, setting a basket of breadsticks on the table. "Coke?" I asked, holding the glass up with a cheesy smile.

Stiles raised his hand, and I set down the drink in front of him, putting the Diet Coke in front of Sheriff. "I didn't know you worked here, Claire." Stiles looked up at me, sipping through his straw.

"I have for the past year." I told him while I held the tray in front of my stomach. "Care to introduce us?" I asked Stiles casually, turning to Sheriff. I had seen him around, and while I was always courteous I had never been properly introduced.

"Oh, Dad. This is Clarimond Gallagher, star soccer player. Claire, this is Dad." I rolled my eyes at the use of my full name. No one ever used my full first name, it was ridiculous.

"Clarimond, huh?" Sheriff asked, sticking his hand out.

"It's Irish." I shrugged, shaking hands. "My parents wanted my name to go back to my roots. You can just call me Clara." I supplied lamely after Sheriff let go.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Clara." Sheriff smiled at me, his eyes looking tired.

"Likewise, Dad." I joked. His eyes twinkled for a minute, and I felt an accomplished smile spread across my face.

"Not to break up this beautiful family moment or anything-" Stiles began, looking down at his phone for a moment. "But we have exactly 42 minutes before you have to be back at the station." Stiles linked his hands together, looking up at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes lightly and turned back, my pen already poised over the paper to write an order.

"What's the healthiest salad you have?" Stiles asked, closing his menu and looking up at me.

"Greek salad?" I asked, listing off the vegetables that topped it.

"Great, he will take one of those. And I want the greasiest, most delicious supreme pizza you can make me." He grinned at me widely, passing me both his father and his menus. I took them with a smile and turned to walk away, glad that I had decided to wear a short black skirt instead of my usual dress pants. Although I wasn't sure, I made sure to swing my hips a little more than usual. Just in case Stiles was watching.

The instant I was around the corner, Jessica was on my back, whispering questions. I swatted off her curiosity, putting in the order. She tugged me to the corner where we scarfed down extra food during our shifts. There was already a plate of French fries that she had been munching on without me.

"Seriously though. Stiles? Isn't he like. . . A mega nerd?" She asked, blocking my way to go back to the dine in area. I stood for a moment in thought. I really didn't know him that well. But he was cute, and he was funny. I was a sucker for funny boys. And he was on the lacrosse team, so he had to at least be kind of athletic.

"The heart wants what the heart wants." I finally insisted with a shrug.

"But your heart has been _wanting_ Adam for like. . ." She threw her hands up in frustration.

"Me and Adam are like barely even talking." I admitted. He hadn't even sent me a text this morning. Granted, maybe he was one of those guys that followed the 3 day rule. I hated those guys. I mean, if you like a girl, don't ignore her. It was honestly that simple.

"Okay so then what happens if they both want to get serious?" Jessica asked, leaning against the wall. I flopped my mouth open, not entirely sure what I would do.

I mean, I had been chasing after Adam for the entire school year. He was just now looking at me as more than a friend. But Stiles was something new, and exciting, and it was easy to see that he was into me. I shook my confusion off.

"Stiles is just like. . . The French fries with my meal." I replied with a smile. Jessica let out a laugh, motioning for me to explain while she tossed a French fry in her mouth. "Okay," I began. "So I'm starving for this really damn good sandwich. Something that I know will be delicious, with blue eyes and curly brown hair that I just want to run my hands through." I joked, while Jessica grinned at making my sandwich choices so obvious. "And so I order the sandwich, and when I open the box, there's french fries that just look so mouthwatering and delicious. And now, I'm left wondering did I really even want the sandwich? Maybe I'm just craving some French fries first. And if the French fries turn out bad, then I can easily get rid of them and focus on the sandwich." I smiled at my perfect analogy, popping a french fry into my mouth.

"That is absolutely horrible!" Jessica said with a smile, nudging my hip. "What if the sandwich finds out about the French fries?" I shrugged, but I felt a bit of nerves forming.

"What if the sandwich was with other girls too?" I asked, justifying my thinking. "I heard one of the juniors say they were going on a date last week." Jessica's mouth dropped open at the bit of information.

"And you kissed him last night?" She asked in shock while I shrugged, not too upset about it. "Just tell me. How was it?"

I grinned and shot her a wink as Sheriff Stilinski's food came up, giving me a reason to leave the conversation.

The rest of my shift went on as normal, making a bit off small talk with Stiles and his father before they left.

Jessica and I continued our gossip before I left. She had made me insist on keeping her up to date with my love life, as she faithful to her boyfriend of a year and craved the drama of mine.

I got back to the house just as Finn was leaving for a date, promising to let me have the house for the night.

Erica didn't even bother showing up until after 8, her boyfriend dropping her off.

"Come on, you'll love him!" She insisted, dragging me out to the door. The tall boy was leaning against his car, wearing a leather jacket with a blue shirt underneath. He stood up from the car when I came out, flashing me a charming smile. Erica dragged me over to him until I was standing right in front of him.

"Clara, right?" He asked, sticking a hand out. I shook it with a weak smile, completely distrusting him. What was he even after? "I'm Derek." He tried, releasing my hand. "Erica's told me a lot about you!"

I looked him over for moment. He was attractive, there was no doubt, but I just didn't understand. I could not for the life of me put two and two together. "All good things, I hope." I replied, shaking off my bad feeling.

"Great things! She says you play soccer?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Uh, yeah. Go cyclones." I weakly cheered, a sarcastic hand raising.

"Are you planning on going pro?" He asked, resuming his position against his car.

"I'm just trying to get through high school first." I answered, trying to let my guard down a little bit. "I'm hoping I'll at least be able to get a scholarship off of it."

"Well, maybe we'll be able to go to your next game and cheer you on!" He told me before looking at his watch. "Sorry, guys. I have to get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow." He gave Erica a quick kiss on the cheek, who smiled as he gracefully got into his car.

"So." Erica began tugging me back inside my house, glancing back with a smile and wave at Derek leaving. "What did you think of him?" She questioned as she strode into the living room and fell onto the couch. "Cute, right?" She answered herself, picking up a magazine.

"Uh, yeah. I guess." I answered. Which wasn't a lie. "He seems. . . Nice?" I offered, preparing the tv to watch our movies.

"You're such a terrible liar." Erica told with a scoff. I rolled my eyes at her bluntness.

"What? You were expecting me to fall in love with the guy that has been changing you so drastically?" I threw my arms into the air in frustration. I was already so tired of bottling up everything that Erica had been doing to me, whether subconsciously or not. How did she expect me to welcome Derek with open arms if it felt like she was cutting me out of her life?

Her own anger seemed to grow at my statement, and she abruptly stood up. She'd been way overdressed for our movie night, and it made me wonder if she'd even planned on staying.

"I expected you to give him a _fair_ chance." She answered, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "I didn't come to be bitched at more." She drug out the word more, as though I had been constantly hounding her for her behavior.

Erica had been making a purposeful strut to the door, and just as she was reaching out for the door handle, I jumped up from my seat.

"Wait." I sighed, running my hands through my hair. Surprisingly, she stopped. "I'm sorry." I finally spat out, feeling suddenly hurt. "It's just been such a fast change, I just don't feel like he's good for you-Not that he actually is bad for you, it's just everything happening at once, you know?" I spewed, practically pleading for her to come back and sit down. "Let's just forget it, okay?" I asked, tired of feeling like the bad guy. "Please, let's just get back to our movies. I'll get over myself."

Erica practically skipped back to the couch, barely concealing a smirk. I sunk back into my seat, choosing to ignore it instead of picking another fight.

As the movie started, we both quieted down. Hers out of interest for the movie, but my lack of conversation was mostly due to feeling like I was stepping on thin glass. When the first kissing scene came on, I felt Erica look over at me.

"What?" I asked, barely looking away from the tv to glance at her.

"I have to tell you about how great of a kisser he is!" I rolled my eyes as familiarity rolled over me. Although it was Erica's first story about kissing, _this_ was easy girl territory. I could pretend for the moment that it was just me and her again. She gushed about their makeout sessions, using explicit detail about how he tossed her around roughly. Even more surprising, she enjoyed it. When she started to go into detail about the sex, I listened with surprise as she told me how the first time, he'd been surprisingly gentle. Above all else, that gave me some relief. At least for her first time, he'd made it a memorable experience for her.

Erica seemed glad to be able to finally talk about it. She kept telling me how although she was enjoying the sex with Derek, it made her realize that there were so many more options out there. When the subject was thoroughly exhausted, she turned on me, grilling me about my night with Adam.

"We didn't really _do_ anything last night except kissing and dancing." I simplified. "It was practically our first date." I told her easily, brushing my hair behind my ears.

"Come ooooonnnn." She pleaded, moving to sit on her knees in front of me. Her hands tugged mine to be cradled between hers. "I gave you like every little detail. It's your turn."

I smiled for a moment, my eyes closing to remember the way Adam held my hips close to his while we danced. Once or twice he'd slid it a bit lower, pulling me closer to him with the pockets of my jeans. I tried to explain it to Erica the way he made my heart feel like it was thumping in my throat each time he kissed me.

I'd had sex before, but it'd been in the cab of some truck with some guy I'd barely known, simply wanting to get my first time over with. I'd almost had sex with another guy a few months ago, during Summer, but when I was rolling a condom on he'd gotten. . . Just a bit too excited.

I thought about telling Erica about Stiles, but quickly decided against it. After all, it was just beginning to feel like some semblance of normal. Did I really want to destroy that by telling her I may be harboring a crush on the same boy she'd obsessed over for a year?

And then the guilt kicked in. If we were going to be friends, I had to be truthful to her. Right? For now, I put it at the back of my thoughts. It was a different problem for a different day.

 **And there you have it! The latest installment in Run. Clara's accepting that she definitely has a crush on Stiles, but now that she and Adam are beginning to get serious, how will that threaten her and Stiles relationship? As always, reviews are appreciated!**

 _ **Izi Wilson:**_ **I don't plan on Clara being a werewolf :) I feel like sometimes that just gets overused, you know?**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry for the wait, here's the next installment! Let me know what you guys think! Also, how do you guys feel about smut? Trying to decide if I should add it in to this story, or make a separate filled with the dirty stuff c; let me know!**

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On Monday, things had gone back to normal. Well, normal was a bit of a stretch. Erica still wasn't at school, but at least now I knew her whereabouts. I sat beside Jessica at her table instead of being forced to sit at an empty table.

I told her about my insecurities with Erica, and she listened without judging me. It was nice to have a neutral ear to vent to. On my way to chemistry, I was stopped in the hall by Scott and Stiles.

"Hey guys!" I said with a smile while they practically dragged me to a semi-private corner of the hall. "How was ice skating?" I tried to ask casually, although I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach. Stiles was wearing a red and black plaid shirt, a black t-shirt barely visible under the few undone buttons. My mind took over for me, imagining pushing him into a chair, continuing to undo the buttons for him.

"Ice skating?" Scott asked, breaking my daydream while exchanging a look at Stiles.

Stiles grew flustered, throwing his hands up into the air. "I- I may have forgotten to tell you that I'd invited Claire, okay? But that's beside the point." I saw Scott's eyebrows raise, staring at his best friend for a minute before a slow nod towards me. Stiles not so casually nodded, and I fought the urge to remind them that I was still standing in front of them.

Knowing that I was attempting to woo not just one, but two boys, I'd spent extra time in front of the mirror this morning. I was wearing a thick grey cotton dress, with a brown leather jacket, and my favorite black heels. My hair was loosely curled, and I'd even spent time putting on makeup this morning. I was determined for my week to be better than last week.

"Ice skating was good-great! It was great. Lot's of fun skating. On ice." Stiles finally stuttered out, drawing my attention back to him. "Listen, have you talked to Erica since like, I don't know. Friday?" Scott and Stiles both leaned in very close to hear my answer, appearing to be trying very hard not to be conspicuous.

"Yeah, actually. I hung out with her yesterday." I pulled my school books closer to my body, wondering once again why they were so curious about her. I'd heard that Scott and Allison broke up, maybe Scott was into Erica now? Or perhaps it was Stiles that was now _seeing_ Erica. But he'd asked me on the date after he saw her Friday. Then again, I was definitely playing the field. Maybe he was too?

"Did she talk to you about anything. . . _Weird?"_ Scott asked. "I mean maybe tried to talk you into doing something?"

I felt my heart jump for a moment. _Did they know something about what she'd been doing?_ More importantly, should I let on that I knew that she was doing something, even if I actually had no idea what she was doing?

"Uh. . ." I began while looking for an escape. I spotted it in the form of Jessica, putting her books in her locker at the end of the hall. "Sorry guys, I don't know what you're talking about." I answered simply. I began strutting purposefully away from the pair, although I glanced back over my shoulder as soon as I put distance between us. Stiles was watching me walk away, not so subtly checking out my ass as Scott was trying to get his attention. I decided to let his actions slide, turning back to face Jessica with a little more sway in my hips.

"Hey girl!" She called as she caught sight of me. "How's your morning so far?" She tossed her hair over her shoulder as we began walking towards class.

"Fucking weird." I replied honestly. She shot me a questioning look, but I waved it off, focusing on getting through the day.

I'd been worried about being forced to converse with them again during lunch, but Adam had insisted I joined him and his friends. Even when I looked around, I found that they weren't at their normal table. A casual glance around the cafeteria showed no signs of them. I couldn't help feeling like I was missing some huge puzzle piece, like there was a secret club that I wasn't a part of.

"Claire?" Adam asked, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Hm?" I shook my head, trying to get out of my thoughts.

"Did you want to go to the party tomorrow night? After the game?" I raised my eyebrows a bit at his request, two parties in less than a week?

"I can't, I promised my brother I'd come straight home after." I lied. I didn't want to seem _too_ available to him. Also, while the party on Friday was fun, the thought of spending the night outside just wasn't appealing to me at the moment. Maybe I could take Stiles up on our rain check?

"That sucks." Adam commented, leaning back in his chair. "I hear it's going to be pretty great." I shrugged, not feeling very interested. "It won't be as fun without you, though." He added, leaning forward in his seat. I grinned at the compliment, trying to focus my attention back on him.

I spent the rest of the day scanning the halls for Stiles, with no luck. Even at practice, he and Scott were missing. I found myself worrying, although I knew logically they were both probably fine. I had no way to contact either of them, unless I just showed up at the Sheriff's office to demand where his son was. And seeing as how that was unfeasible, I resigned myself to waiting it out with a knot in my stomach.

It was only at work that night when Stiles was walking past the wall facing the street that was made of windows that I let the weight slide off my shoulders. They really were okay. I tried not to seem too eager as I told my coworker I'd be right back, rushing out the door to catch him before he was gone.

"Stiles!" I called out. He was just a few feet ahead of me, and when he heard his name he instinctively threw his hands over his head as though I was going to throw something at him. I bit back my laugh when he turned to face me, his goofy grin appearing as soon as he saw me. I walked forward as he dropped his arms to his side. I strode to right in front of him, reaching one hand out to grab at his. When I tugged it closer to me, pulling him in for a hug, I felt Stiles freeze up for just a second before wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "You can't just drop off the face of the planet like that!" I pressed my forehead into his shoulder, allowing myself to breathe in his scent. It was a mix between cologne and body sweat, but I found it hard to pull away from.

"Next time, I will be sure to tell you when I am dropping off the planet." He assured me before I pulled back. Even as I did, I left my arms looped around his waist, a smile on my face.

"So. About that rain check. . ." I began, flashing him a toothy grin. His eyebrows raised a significant amount, seeming to be caught off guard. "How about tomorrow night? After the lacrosse game." He was nodding before I could even finish my sentence.

"Yes, absolutely."

"Are you sure?" I asked, letting my hands drop from his waist. "No plans at all?"

"I will clear everything on my schedule." I grinned at his eagerness, feeling giddy just thinking about tomorrow. I took out a pen and grabbed his hand, scribbling my number on his palm.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." I shot him a smile as I began walking backwards. He ran the hand I hadn't written on along the back of his neck, shooting me his goofy grin before I disappeared into my work.

I turned to watch him leave, but I was surprised to see him pumping his fists in the air. A laugh escaped me, and I couldn't keep the grin off my face as I went back to work.

* * *

"I'm just saying, I don't think it's going to turn out well is all." Jessica informed me, putting her finishing touches on my makeup. "Adam was asking for you after school." I felt my heart leap for a moment, excited that he was making our flirtationship a little bit more public. "What are you going to do when they find out about each other?" She spun me around to face the mirror, showcasing her work.

My normally wavy hair was straightened, the length of it surprising me. She'd painted my full lips a dark pink, the cupids bow standing out. My normally pale complexion seemed to almost be glowing, and she'd used an almost brown blush just under my cheekbones to make my face look slimmer. I applauded her work, standing up to change into my outfit for the night.

"They're not going to find out about each other." I assured her. "I'll have my fun and then put my toys away." I joked, although Jessica didn't seem to find it funny.

"I just feel bad for Stiles, you know?" She sat on the edge of her bed, braiding a section of hair while I pulled on the black crop top I'd picked out for tonight. "It feels like we're using him."

" _We_ are not using him." I emphasized, setting both of my hands on Jessica's shoulders. "I am going to have my date with him tonight, and then I will let things go." She didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but she let it go in favor of deciding between her outfits for tonight.

Less than an hour later, we were making our way up the bleachers. Jessica had invited me to sit with her and her boyfriend, Gabriel, but I declined, having planned to sit with Erica. Erica was already on the top row, sitting with some guy that I recognized from my English class.

Erica waved me over when she saw me, turning to the boy to say something before she turned to me with a large smile on her face. I tried to pretend it didn't seem fake as I took the seat.

"You remember Boyd, right?" Erica asked, leaning back so I could shake hands with Boyd. My entire hand seemed to be swallowed by his, and I tried to fight the urge to ask if this was her new boy toy.

"Yeah, nice to see you outside of class." I commented, pulling back when he smiled at me.

"Likewise." He replied, sitting back.

I chatted with Erica for a few minutes, completey avoiding the topic of boys, mostly trying to get her caught up on what we'd done in class today.

When the whistle finally blew to start the game, my eyes were instantly drawn to the bench directly in front of us. Stiles was looking up at the stands at the same time, he grinned and his cheeks started turning pink when he caught my eye, but as he glanced beside me at Erica and Boyd I saw his eyes narrow. Erica threw an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to her in some show of dominance. I shot her a confused look, but she just grinned down at Stiles, waving with her free hand. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the game, where Adam was beginning to play.

In California, lacrosse was huge. I'd practically grown up on the sport. When I'd realized in middle school I wouldn't be able to play in high school, I'd took up soccer, but my love for watching lacrosse continued. The whole town was at the game, cheering alongside one another.

Unfortunately, there was a monster of a man on the opposite team that kept plowing through our players. One by one, our players dropped, and when I heard Coach Finstock call for Stiles, I jumped in excitement.

My excitement was short lived as I realized he wasn't on the bench anymore. I glanced around the field, but there was no sign of him. Boyd stood up from beside Erica, and I heard her mutter something under her breath before Boyd pulled his jacket off and made his way to the field, apparently to play on the team.

Adam had just been taken away, and I debated for a moment going to his side before I debated against it. I had my date with Stiles tonight. I could focus on Stiles for one night.

When the game resumed, Boyd quickly took the lead by smashing into the monster of a player. Cheers erupted around us, giving us hope that we would win this game.

"I'm feeling some fries." Erica told me. "You mind grabbing me some?" I didn't really want to miss any action, but I was in a good mood.

"Sure." I made my way to the concession stand, casting glances around to see if I could spot where Stiles had disappeared to. My search was fruitless, but I did manage to begin making my way back up the bleachers with a plate of hot fries. I tried to keep my eyes on the field, so when I was almost back up to my spot on the bleachers, I was disappointed to see that Erica wasn't there. She had even taken her bag and jacket with her. My heart dropped when I realized she'd ditched me.

"Claire!" Jessica grabbed my shoulder, bringing me back into reality. "Enjoying the game?" She asked, pulling me to her seat. Gabriel shot me a wave, not standing up from his spot as he focused on the game.

"I think Erica just ditched me." I admitted. I popped a fry in my mouth, offering the plate to Jessica. "Want some pity fries?" I asked with a grin.

She grinned and shook her head. "I saw her heading into the school." Jessica informed me. "But it's her loss." She told me, throwing an arm around my shoulder as the Beacon Hills Cyclones scored a point. I sat with Jessica for a few moments, anger growing as I contemplated how mean it was for Erica to have left me. When it finally felt like I was going to start screaming, I stood up with resolve. I was going to find her and tell her that I didn't want anything more to do with her.

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 **Things are about to get intense! I should be putting the next chapter up tomorrow!**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: Here you guys go! A nice long chapter to make up for the previous filler. Hope you enjoy. Thank you so much for the reviews!**

 **Izi: I really enjoy making Erica a bitch to her _former_ friend :)**

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I marched into the school, fuming with anger. There was no fucking _way_ Erica was ditching me without payback. I heard Stiles' blabbering muffled, coming from the pool. Were they together right now? What was I really going to walk into? When I opened the door, Erica and Derek were standing facing me, Stiles jumping at the sound of the door slamming against the wall. All three of them turned their eyes towards me before looking directly above me. I strode forward, ready to push Erica into the pool, but stopped just ahead of her when I heard a hissing sound from above us. I turned to see what had made the noise. I was not expecting to see a giant lizard hanging from the bars in front of the bleachers. It was huge and a dark green, yellow eyes turned towards us, with a long tail that flicked about lazily.

"What the fuck?" Were the only words I was able to get out of my mouth, the door slamming shut behind me as we all stood in silence for a long minute, anticipating what was going to happen. I could hear everyone's breathing for a moment as adrenaline kicked in, mostly terrified at what was about to occur. Erica suddenly shoved me forward, trying to provide a distraction for herself to get away. I fell onto my knees, staring with wide eyes at the creature that was no doubt going to kill me.

And then, as if my day couldn't get any worse, the lizard lunged at me. I squeaked and shot out to my left, my elbows slamming into the concrete floor. I wasted no time in jumping back to my feet, turning to see what the fuck was happening. The lizard lost its interest in me for the moment and instead faced Erica, who was looking between me and Derek. While she was looking though, the lizard easily jumped towards her and threw her across the room, slamming her into a wall. A yelp escaped my throat, drawing it's attention back to me as Derek and Stiles ran in the opposite direction. My eyes desperately searched around me for anything to defend myself, but nothing seemed to be near me that could offer any aid.

Instead, I shoved a stray chair towards the monster, my heart nearly jumping in my throat as I sprinted the opposite direction of Stiles. There was an emergency fire escape on the other side of the pool, and maybe, just maybe, this thing wasn't smart enough to follow me outside. Unfortunately, I was still shit out of luck. The monster jumped right over me, landing with ease just a few feet ahead of me, it's skin rippling with lithe muscles.

The only word repeated through my head was a constant stream of _fuck fuck fuck_ as I backed away, my hands brought up defensively. The monster, however, didn't seem to understand surrender as it raised an arm at me, his claws dripping with what almost looked like corn syrup. It's hand suddenly was brought down to my side, smacking me easily to the side, and straight into the wall near Erica. My side exploded with pain, a grunt escaping me as I slid down. I opened my eyes to see Erica, who was twitching in front of me, her eyes looking around frantically. When I reached out to her, the giant monster grabbed me from the wall and threw me again. For a second, all I felt was weightlessness, and I refused to open my eyes to see where I was landing.

I found out when half my body landed in water, the other half smacking hard into the cement side of the pool. Black enveloped my vision as there was a ringing in my ears, and I couldn't even feel how cold the water was as I slid all the way into the pool, a hand stretched back towards the surface.

You know that feeling you get when you're waking up in the morning, when you haven't quite realized you're awake yet? Where you're just conscious of being there, not really existing? Maybe reenacting the good part of a dream or a memory, but not at all concerned with reality.

Waking up underwater was a bit like that. Except, the time it took me to realize I was underwater and the time it took me to realize that my lungs were aching for air was much, much shorter. I felt the concrete of the bottom of the pool against my back, and I instantly wound up like a spring and pushed with my legs, my arms reaching towards the surface as though I could pull it down closer to me. When I burst through the surface, I gulped in deep breaths, suddenly remembering that this was not normal. When I looked around frantically, still gasping, I remembered exactly where I was and exactly what had happened.

I spun in all directions, eventually picking the wall nearest the emergency exit to swim towards.

"Erica?" I heard Stiles call out from the other pool, where we were separated by several feet of concrete. The pool room had two separate pools, one for swimming and one for diving, the one for diving being significantly smaller. I managed to be swimming about in the smaller one, which was across the room from the exit.

"Stiles!" I gasped out, unsure if I should join him or make a mad dash for the exit.

"Claire?" He called out in disbelief, and my resolve to save my friend won out. "You should be dead!" He called out, and confusion rang through me. "Not that I'm not happy you're not, I'd rather you be living-"

"Shut up." I heard someone say from next to Stiles. "I'd rather drown than listen to you stammer." I had almost made it to the edge of the pool when I heard a low growl. Instantly, I backed away, treading water while I thought of a plan.

"Well right now, maybe I can make that happen!" I heard Stiles threaten.

"Do that and you're dead." I realized now that it was Derek talking, and I threw my head back in the water.

"How long was I under?" I asked, recalling that I had definitely hit some very hard surfaces. However, the adrenaline rushing through me allowed me the pleasure to not feel anything but the icy water against my skin.

"At least a half hour, if not more." Derek called out. I stopped treading for a moment in confusion before continuing my actions. _An half hour underwater? Is that even possible?_ I stared at the half foot of concrete I'd need to hoist myself onto for my escape, suddenly feeling a lot heavier. "You really shouldn't be alive, Clara." Derek called out, leaving me to once again ponder why I was alive.

"I told you Clara's a fighter." Stiles called out proudly. "Too stubborn to die." I snorted at this, momentarily forgetting that I really should be dead. And if I wanted to continue to survive this night, I'd need to fight even harder. Who was even going to save us?

"Stiles?" I called out, needing to at least hear that he was with me in this fucked up ordeal.

"Yeah?" He yelled back. I waited a moment before answering, the adrenaline wavering.

"If I get out of this alive you better tell me what the fuck is going on." I finally threatened.

"If we get out of this alive I will pledge my whole life to you!" He yelled back at me. A grin crossed my face, and I bit back a laugh.

"Just the truth is fine!" I joked back, earning a mock gasp from Stiles. I wanted to be able to see him, not just call out to each other every few seconds.

"Do you. . ." I called out, spinning to look at the exit door as a plan formed in my head. "Do you think it can understand what we're saying?" I asked Stiles and Derek.

"I don't think so." Derek called out for me.

I breathed out a sigh. I don't think so was going to have to cut it for now. "I'm closer to the door now." I called out. "I'm going to make a run for it, and then I'm going to get help." I edged closer to the pools ledge, waiting for the telltale sound of the lizard growling, but for the moment I heard nothing.

"No, that is a bad plan!" Stiles instantly yelled back. I scoffed at him, kicking my shoes off underwater so I wouldn't have to worry about them weighing me down. I also slid off my jacket, leaving me in just my black crop top, my skinny jeans, and my socks. Probably not the best attire for running away from a murderous lizard, but I'd make do.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Stiles. Do you have a better plan?" I yelled at him, wishing that he did.

"His plan drowned a few minutes before you came back up." Derek called out. I heard some grumbling from the other pool, but I paid no attention to it as I tentatively swam closer to the edge. Even when I reached it, I hadn't even heard a sound apart from water lapping against the edges of the pool.

The lizard was nowhere in sight as I placed my hands firmly against the concrete, pushing up and pulling my knees up. I stood up wearily, feeling a hundred pounds heavier as I was back on dry land. With no sign of the lizard yet, I stepped backwards, surveying the entire room. Erica was still leaning against a wall, her eyes closed but her stomach moving up and down visibly as she breathed. Stiles was supporting Derek in the water, who didn't seem to be doing any of the kicking. Both of them watched me with wide eyes as I pressed my back against the wall and edged closer to the door, every step giving me just a little more hope.

"CLAIRE WATCH OUT!" Stiles suddenly yelled. I leapt backwards as the lizard suddenly dropped from the rafters, crawling towards me on all fours. I stumbled back, hands grasping beside me as I looked for anything to defend myself. The lizard stalked me, taking a step forward as I scooted myself back. My head bumped a wall, and the lizard thing suddenly reached out for my leg, his claws grabbing just below my knee and raking down, tearing my jeans and scratching my skin. I screamed and kicked out, one foot colliding with it's shoulder, giving me a split second to pull my leg back from it and push myself onto my feet. I pushed against the wall I had been cornered against, running the opposite direction of the door, towards where Erica remained unconscious. Just as I felt I was getting ahead, the lizard grasped onto my leg again, making me fall onto the concrete. It forced me to flip over so that I was looking towards the ceiling. I felt it crawl along me, stopping once it's face reached my own. I felt my panicked breaths stop for a minute, terrified. It stared at me with it's glowing yellow eyes, one hand poised above it's head. It suddenly opened it's mouth and roared, the jagged teeth reminding me of a shark. I reached an arm out, desperately looking for anything to bash it's head in, when my hand closed around what felt like a thin piece of glass. I grabbed it and aimed for the rib cage, my own hand stinging as I gripped it as hard as I could. It roared up towards the ceiling, and I took this as my chance to dive away. Knowing now that I definitely wouldn't be able to outrun it, I instead took a hint from Stiles and barreled towards the water, barely sliding in as the monster reached out to grab me again.

I kicked my way up to the surface, finding myself face to face with Stiles and Derek.

"Fancy seeing you guys here." I quipped, a sarcastic grin making its way onto my face. Stiles and Derek both shot me an "are you fucking kidding me" looks, and I fought hard to keep my grin on.

"Are you feeling okay?" Derek asked, his eyebrows scrunching at me.

I looked down at my legs under water, the area immediately surrounding me already turning pink with blood. "You know I'm not having the best day, but thanks for asking." I shot at him, determined to stay in a good mood.

"No, what he means is do you still feel your body? Nothings going numb? Not about to sink to your not-death again?" Stiles asked, sounding more out of breath than before.

I looked down at the water again, flexing my fingers and toes. "I feel fine." I told them, and apart from my legs burning with pain from the scratches, and various parts of my body aching, I wasn't feeling numb.

"What are you?" Derek growled, and I snapped my head to look in his eyes.

"Very fucking tired." I replied steadily, keeping our eye contact until the monster growled again.

"There's a paralytic in Lizard man's juice, you should start going numb by now." Stiles finally replied. I did my best of a shrug, getting tired of treading water. Stiles, on the other hand, looked exhausted holding Derek up.

"And Derek and Erica were hit with it, weren't they?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder at Erica's body.

"Yeah." Derek replied. "So why aren't you going down?" I rolled my eyes.

"That's another problem for another day." I finally answered before I swam closer to Stiles. "Here, let me take him." Stiles wasted no time in passing Derek off to me, and I held Derek's body close to mine, feeling only slightly awkward. I had only met this guy like twice before. His bodyweight pulled me down even more, forcing me to double my kicks to keep us afloat. Stiles relaxed for a moment, allowing himself to float. Derek, however angry he was at the situation, only growled low under his breath when I readjusted my grip so I would stop kicking our legs together.

"How are we getting out of this?" I asked after a few moments of silence. Nobody answered me, and I felt fear grow in my throat. "Nothing?" I asked. Again, no one answered me. "So we're just going to tread water all night long until the janitor decides to make an appearance?"

"Well our plan was Scott, but he decided to hang up before I got any juicy details out." Derek groaned at the mention of Scott, but I grew more confused.

"Why would Scott be of any help?" I asked. Stiles stopped floating and instead looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"He'd be able to call my dad. Duh." Stiles took Derek from me, and I was grateful for the chance to relax. The loss of adrenaline was starting to make me woozy, and in the silence that followed the awkward conversation, I retreated to my thoughts.

I should have been dead. I knew the body couldn't last for long without oxygen. So how was I still alive after spending a half hour underwater? I recalled Erica throwing me to the lizard. I really should have been dead. More so, I wanted to kill Erica. If there was any proof now that me and her were no longer friends, this was it. There would never be any recovering from this. Stiles was growing tired, and I felt exhaustion kicking in. I leaned back in the water, letting myself float in an effort to get my heart to slow down. Instead, I opened my eyes to look at the sky light. It was practically black outside. How long had we been here for? The lizard monster was watching us from the ceiling, circling from above. My cut had done nothing but piss him off.

"We could trick it." I said as yet another disastrous plan formed in my head.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked, spitting water out as Stiles accidentally dipped him under the water again. I swam closer to them, relieving Stiles of carrying him again.

"It can't go after all of us at the same time." Stiles gasped in relief and began floating, obviously already exhausted.

"That sounds like a horrible plan." He let out, inhaling deeply as I kicked as hard as I could to keep us floating. "It will just eat all of us if we try anything."

"We'll just drown if we don't try anything!" I shot back, anger replacing my fear.

"Stiles is right, it's a terrible idea." Derek told me.

"I'm the one holding you right now, Derek!" I hissed in his ear. "I wouldn't mind letting go of you for a few minutes!" I felt Derek growl and he attempted to twist, but all he was able to do was twitch around a bit.

"Drop me and I'll come after you next." He attempted to threaten, but I just dipped his head below the surface a bit _._ Stiles started coming closer, ready to break up a fight. _I had the upper hand here, and if it meant sacrificing one person to save the lives of two, I'd do it._ The instant the thought ran through my head, I felt guilty. Derek, as much a creep as he was, still had a life.

"Tensions are running high!" Stiles grabbed Derek out of my arms, letting me swim away a few feet.

"Sorry." I grumbled. Looking up at the monster again. It hadn't moved from it's position, instead just staring us down with the bright yellow eyes. "But I do think one of us should try running again."

"I'm not going to make it out of the door." Stiles answered me, the exhaustion growing in his voice. I saw Stiles slip below the surface again, and I swam back over to relieve him of holding Derek up.

"Are you starting to get feeling back?" I asked Derek, my legs growing tired.

"I think I can wiggle my fingers." He told me, and I felt him twitch them against my stomach.

"I need something to hold myself up." Stiles told me, his head dipping below the surface. He bobbed back up a second later, but began an exhausted stroke to the diving boards. I followed with Derek, struggling to keep both of our heads above the water. The growling from the lizard grew louder with every push we made. I was exhausted. Stiles was exhausted. Derek was offering no help. I felt I had no choice but to follow Stiles, who was trying to push himself up to grab at the board. I kicked harder as he missed, sinking under. I made it to the ledge with Derek just after Stiles went under, and I dropped Derek without thinking about it as I dove after Stiles. I felt claws grab at my shoulder, and I panicked when it pulled me up, Stiles being pulled up at the same time. We were tossed over the edge of the pool, smacking onto the cement. I sucked in air and looked up, prepared to see the giant lizard towering over us. Instead, Scott stood between us and the lizard. He glanced halfway over his shoulder at me. But it wasn't normal. His cheekbones and eyebrows were accentuated, and hair was growing along his jawline. I froze, my elbows locking into place as I stared at his back. _What the fuck?_ Scott suddenly roared at the giant lizard, and it backed up for a second before jumping through the skylight, glass shattering into the pool. I kept gulping down air as Scott turned to face us, his features rapidly turning back to normal in front of my eyes.

"Am I dead?" I asked, trying to think of a reason any of this would make sense. Oxygen deprivation? One of the blows to my head maybe knocked a few screws loose? Maybe I never even made it inside. Maybe I fell off the bleachers and got a concussion and I'm dreaming. Maybe the fries had some sort of hallucinogen baked in. Scott knelt down beside Stiles and I, ignoring my question but checking us over. He looked at my leg, and the cuts didn't seem to be too deep. Derek was regaining his control, leaning up for himself against one of the diving boards. Stiles had propped himself on a chair beside me, breathing hard and watching me.

"You know you just have great timing." Stiles spat out. "Would have been better an hour ago, but I guess you wanted your grand entrance."

"I got the bestiary!" Scott held up a tiny flashdrive. _A bestiary?_ Little puzzle pieces clicked together in my head. They'd need a bestiary to find out what we'd been facing. But why them? Weren't there people to take care of problems like this.

"Oh, goodie." Stiles commented sarcastically. "At least now we'll know what's trying to kill us." Another chorus of _what the fuck_ rang through my head, but I found myself frozen.

"I think we need to talk." Scott told me while putting an arm under mine to help me into a seat.

"Can it wait?" I found myself asking. My brain was already melting from loads of new information. Mostly, the thought of the giant lizard coming after me was consuming my thoughts.

Scott and Stiles exchanged a look, having a silent conversation with only head nods and shrugs.

"Fine but we need to talk soon, okay?" Scott asked, standing up. "We need to see what's on this USB." Scott tried to help us all up, Derek finally able to stand again.

Scott, Stiles, and Derek made their way outside, ushering me to follow them. I declined, staying behind with Erica. They seemed reluctant to leave me with her, but I insisted we'd be fine.

"Wakey wakey." I shook her shoulder, eliciting a groan. She seemed almost peaceful in her sleep, and I had the sudden thought that maybe I was giving up on a friend that was calling out for help. However, she'd pretty much sacrificed me. It was a miracle I was alive with only a few scratches on my body. Some fluke of nature. When she didn't immediately wake up, I walked to the edge of the pool, dipping my hands in the water to cup some. I threw it on to her face, and was pleased when she sat up in shock of the cold water.

"What the _fuck?"_ She yelled, scrambling up. When she realized it was just me and her, she pouted her lip out. " _Claraaaaaa."_ She drug out. I narrowed my eyes at her act. If I couldn't make sense of everything that happened here tonight, I could make sense of the lack of friendship Erica and I had sunk into.

"So are you going to offer an explanation?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, my decision already made.

She sputtered for a moment, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she scrambled to make an explanation. "I-I'm sorry!" She finally got out. "I panicked." She tried to reach out to me, but I smacked her arms away.

"I kept thinking _she's just going through something, it'll go back to normal in a while. Oh, this is just her way of coping, I need to try and understand what she's been through."_ I raised my arms in a mocking way. "And every time, you have disappointed me." I scoffed and crossed my arms again. "We'd been best friends for what, three, four years?" I asked, not expecting an answer. "And look at how it's gone to waste." I gestured between the two of us, trying to show how broken we are. Only this was beyond broken, it wasn't something we could just fix. Nor did I have any desire to fix this.

"Oh please." Erica spat out, catching me by surprise. "We haven't been the same since you made varsity soccer and started acting better than me." I rolled my eyes.

"I have never _thought_ of myself being better than you!" I shouted, throwing my hands out beside me. " _You_ were always the one putting me on this pedestal made of sunshine and rainbows. _You_ were the one always tearing yourself down." I felt my eyes burning with tears I refused to shed. Erica stood in front of me, anger coursing through her. "But now I know." I spat out much quieter. "I am, and will always be, better than you." I turned on my heel, ready to leave. "Because I don't throw my friends around and only play with them when I need them." I began making my way out of the pool room, my clothes still dripping. The tile was cold under my socks, and I felt goosebumps spread across my skin as I opened the door leading outside. Scott, Stiles, and Derek turned to look at me from next to Scott's car. I made my way across the now empty parking lot, not even glancing behind me when I heard the doors open with Erica behind me.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" She yelled out. "One day you'll realize we're not so different." Erica continued. I ignored it, keeping my stride as I came to stand beside Stiles.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked, linking an arm around his.

"Go where?" He asked, looking down at me with a puzzled glance.

"Our date." I answered simply. Derek had left their side when Erica came back outside, leaving Scott to grin at Stiles, who instantly began stuttering.

"I-I mean, I just thought that-that this would call for another r-rain check, you know?" He looked between me and Scott with wide eyes, and I pouted for a second. My normal emotions were taking a back seat as I let my need to show off take over.

"You want to cancel tonight?" I asked with my best puppy dog eyes.

"Uh, no. Definitely not. Sorry Scott, I'm leaving you to it." I grinned at Stiles and began walking backwards, throwing Scott a half-assed salute as Stiles stumbled to keep up with me.


	8. Chapter 7

I made Stiles wait on the front porch while I threw things around in an attempt to make my home look cleaner. I threw throw pillows on the couch, tossed dirty dishes into the dish washer, and ran to my room to push all my dirty clothes into the hamper. When my room was presentable, I stood back in front of the door. When I opened it slightly, Stiles was messing around on his phone, but when he heard the door open, he looked up to me. This time, there was no goofy smile or his cheeks reddening. He had a small smile on his face as he caught me peeking at him. I opened the door the rest of the way and held a hand out, inviting him into my home.

He took it without a second thought, allowing me to pull him in. When he was all the way inside, I shut the door and leaned against it, letting him look around the small home.

"It fits you." He finally said, turning back to look at me. "Tiny-" I rolled my eyes with a smile. "But with a lot of character." He added, looking again at the artwork that decorated the walls. "Did you paint these?" He asked, standing in front of one.

"No, my brother did." I replied, making my way to the kitchen.

"Oh, your brother?" He asked, glancing at me as I pulled two cups from the cupboard. "And where's he at?" I smiled at his subtle question.

"He's not going to be home until tomorrow afternoon." I replied, pouring a little bit of brandy into each cup. My brother loved the stuff, and always kept a few bottle of liquor in our cabinet.

I stepped back to Stiles, passing him one of the drinks. He smelled it before taking a tentative sip, and nearly choked as it went down. I laughed and pulled him a bit down the hall.

"Do you want something to change into? I'm sure you could wear something of my brother's until your clothes are dry." I went into Finn's room, while Stiles' stood at the entrance, still soaking wet.

I handed him a pair of basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of boxers, pointing him to the bathroom before going into my own room. When I peeled my wet jeans off, I was surprised to find that there were barely a hint of the scratches. Just a few thin pink lines stretching from my knee to my ankle. I sat on my bed for a moment, pondering this. I knew I'd always been a fast healer, but this was insane. Would I turn into the lizard monster? Or would I turn into the hairy creature that Scott had been for just a split second? I traced the lines lightly in thought until I couldn't think of it anymore. Without knowing more, I would have to save it for another day. I changed into a soft v-neck t-shirt, leggings, and put on the cutest bra and underwear that I had. While I wasn't planning on sleeping with him, I definitely wanted to be prepared just in case.

I finished before Stiles, and tossed my clothes into the dryer before making my way to the kitchen, debating what to make. I was positive that Stiles was as hungry as I was.

"Where should I put these?" Stiles asked, holding up his soaking wet track suit. I gestured to the dryer, glad that he started it without me having to walk back over.

He joined me in the kitchen, leaning against a counter as I looked through the fridge. Of course, when I needed it most, there were barely any groceries in there.

"Does pizza sound okay?" I finally asked, shutting the fridge and leaning against it.

"Pizza sounds great." I felt a grin spread across my face as I passed Stiles the phone, getting him to order as I poured more into our drinks.

"What do you want?" He asked as the line was ringing.

"Veggie with no olives." I answered, stepping closer to him. "Get whatever you want." I added, taking another step to him. He narrowed his eyes at me as I stepped into his comfort zone, sliding my arms around his waist. I'd waited long enough.

"What are you. . ." Stiles whispered, when the employee picked up. "Hi-yeah, I want to place a delivery order?" He seemed to ask, though his eyes didn't leave mine. I leaned into his neck, placing a kiss at the base of his neck. "A-Address?" He asked, tilting his head to the side to give me more room. I told him my address, waiting until he relayed it to the phone before continuing peppering his neck with kisses. His free hand slid up my waist and to the back of my head, lightly tugging my hair in an effort to keep me away for a moment while he made the order.

My whole body was warm as I threw caution to the wind. I tugged aside the neck of the shirt, biting lightly at the skin. Stiles groaned into the phone, and I smiled against his skin while he stuttered into the phone that the order was right. "Twenty minutes?" He asked, his free hand once again grabbing at my hair to pull me away, more firmly this time. I bit my lip as our eyes connected. His chocolate eyes were darker than normal, and he looked at me under his lashes, practically stealing my breath away. He tossed the phone on the counter, his other hand now resting on my hip. "Christ woman, are you trying to kill me?" He asked, the hand in my hair forcing me closer. I chewed on my lip for a moment before licking them, his eyes flicking down to them. The tension in the air was so palpable you could cut it with a knife. We stayed locked in that position for a moment, neither of us daring to breathe. And then, he lunged after my lips, pressing into them with urgency. One of my hands rested against the back of his neck, keeping him as close to me as I could, while the other trailed up his back, tugging the fabric in no specific direction.

His kiss ignited flames inside me, his touch seeming to lead the way to the surface of my skin. He turned us so that I was pressed against the counter, lifting me easily onto the countertop. The hand in my hair pulled me back from the kiss, and Stiles moved his mouth from my lips to my neck, sucking and biting the skin as I caught my breath. My eyes were closed as he bit at the base of my neck, a moan escaping me as he sucked in the same spot. The hand that wasn't tangled in my hair hooked under my knee, yanking me flush against him. The hand trailed up my knee, rubbing the thick fabric of my leggings. I pushed Stiles away from me suddenly, leaving both of us to stare at each other with abandon. His eyes were ravenous as they looked me over with lust, his shirt disheveled and a very noticeable bulge in the basketball shorts. I jumped from the counter and walked past him to the couch, shooting an expectant glance at him as I stood in front of the couch.

He happily obliged, pushing me down on top of the couch before climbing on top. Our mouths were quickly connected again. My hands roaming his back while one of his hands ran along my thigh. When I tilted my head up, he kissed down my neck again. His other hand knotted in my hair, pulling it in the direction he wanted. I raised my hips to meet his, grinding up against his. He groaned and pushed back, and I could feel the bulge against me. I pushed back again, and the hand that had been travelling up my side reached underneath my back, making us roll over so that I was on top. I grinned down at Stiles, who released his hand from my hair and set them on my hips, taking a moment to look up at me. His lips were redder than normal, his cheeks flushed, and his pupils were blown. My breath caught in my throat at how beautiful he looked. I mean, I always saw Stiles as the nerdy classmate, but I'd never stopped to really take in his high cheekbones, or the way he bit his bottom lip in thought. This time, when I leaned down to kiss him, it was much slower. One of his hands still rested on my hip, but the other held my neck, the tips of his fingers lost in my hair.

I kept one hand on the edge of the couch, but the other held his cheek as we pressed our lips together. He kissed me with something akin to passion, as though if we were separated we'd never be able to touch each other like this again. I couldn't even process what was happening as we held each other tightly, our lips breaking apart for only a moment to look deep into each other's eyes before we came back together again.

This was not just some random fuck. This was what songs and poems were always trying to capture. To be so close to someone that you can't find where you end and they begin. When you're so lost in them that you don't even realize how long you've been kissing them.

The doorbell rang, scaring me off of the couch and onto the floor. Stiles leaned over the edge, an accomplished grin on his face as I scrambled to answer the door.

A guy a few years older than us quickly gave me the pizzas and took the money from me. After insisting he keep the change, I moved back to Stiles. He'd managed to compose himself, sitting up on the couch with an arm thrown around the back of the couch. I set the pizzas on the coffee table and turned on the tv, wanting some mindless noise on to keep it from being awkward.

"Do you want to waaattchhh… Home Improvements or Myth Busters?" I asked, ready to flip to either channel.

"Myth Busters, is that even a question?" Stiles answered with a scoff.

"I had to test if you were gay or not." I replied with a laugh as I settled down beside him, opening our pizza boxes.

"I can think of a few other ways to test that. . ." He hinted, earning a smack against his shoulder. He laughed as we began eating, chatting mindlessly about the show and what are plans for Summer were.

"You can't tell me that you had a mullet in the third grade and then not let me see it!" Stiles countered, glancing around the living room. "Don't you hang school pictures?"

I shook my head with a proud smile on my face, my legs tucked underneath me. "Got rid of all of them when my dad moved out." I smirked when Stiles pouted at me. I didn't waver, but instead I stood up from the couch and stretched my arms above my head.

"Is that all you've got?" I asked, turning off the tv.

He didn't say anything, and I walked slowly to the hallway, tugging off my t-shirt at the beginning. "You coming?" I asked, casting a glance over my shoulder at Stiles, whose jaw had gone slack. I grinned and used a finger to motion him to come on, disappearing into my room while he stumbled around my living room.

I managed to slip out of my leggings before Stiles followed behind me, catching himself on my door frame. I stood in front of my bed, letting my eyes drag over his tall figure. He took purposeful steps towards me. Once he was right in front of me, he paused for a moment. One of his wound around my waist, while the other knotted into my hair, tilting me up to look at him. I fought the urge to moan, not having expected Stiles to be so confident right off the bat. However, I was definitely not complaining. Stiles ghosted his lips over mine. I brought both my hands to his hips, rubbing the shirt gently up. Stiles pulled away from me for a moment, making eye contact with me.

"Are you sure?" He asked huskily, his hands frozen on my body. "I mean, I definitely want to but if you don't want to then it-its one hundred percent okay." I felt a grin spread on my face. _There's Stiles._

"I'm sure." I replied as I placed one hand on his neck, urging him to my level. He pressed his lips against mine, slowly and softly. He seemed almost hesitant to go any farther, even when I bit his lip lightly he didn't move his hands. I'd had enough waiting. One hand still on his waist, I grabbed the one he had resting on my own and moved it to my chest, squeezing my own hand while Stiles' kissing suddenly got much more urgent. He bit my bottom lip before kissing his way down my neck, biting at the skin while tugging my hair. I groaned when he bit at the base of my neck, arching my body into him.

He suddenly pushed me onto the bed, ripping his shirt off before climbing on top of me, peppering kisses up my legs. Both hands hooked under my knees before dragging me closer to him. I grinned and settled my arms around his neck, pressing my lips to his cheek before moving back to his mouth, the taste of pizza still lingering. He pressed his hips into mine, and I greedily pushed mine into his. One of his hands made its way to the side of my underwear, pulling it down my hips until he had to sit up so that he could pull it off all the way. For a moment he didn't lose eye contact, but then he bent down to between my legs. I allowed my hands to wonder into his hair. When I looked up to the ceiling, he finally pounced, licking between my folds and allowing his hands to rest on top of my thighs, pulling them to rest on each of his shoulders.

I moaned and writhed underneath him, not entirely sure what he was doing but definitely enjoying it. "God, Stiles." I moaned out, one of my hands abandoning his hair found solace in the sheets on my bed, tugging it to try and release some tension. He grinned against me, turning his head to lightly bite my thigh.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked, kissing closer to my clit.

"No, no please don't." I practically begged, trying to guide him back to what he was doing.

"Don't. . . What?" He asked, kissing lightly against my folds.

"Don't stop!" I groaned out, lifting my hips. He gladly obliged, resuming his licking and kissing, my moans growing louder.

"You taste so good." He told me, taking a moment to breathe. I groaned in dissatisfaction, having been so close. He kissed at my thighs, and one of his hands moved from my outer thigh to inner. The back of his fingers danced along the sensitive skin, making me pause my movements. I looked down at Stiles, who was hungrily watching my reactions, his eyes dark. When the ghosted along my lips, I pushed my hips up, wanting him to quit teasing me. "If you want it, you have to say it." He growled. I moaned, and moved my hips again, feeling a little shy.

"Please." I moaned out, his fingers just dancing above my clitoris.

"Say it _all."_ He kissed my thigh, clearly taking enjoyment in me begging.

"Stiles. . ." I began, frustration building in me. He grinned wolfishly up at me, one finger dragging between my folds. I groaned and pushed my hips towards him, but he easily lifted his fingers away, kissing again at my thigh. I felt my resolve dissipate at the sight of him between my legs. "God, just fuck me already." I groaned out, throwing my head back on the pillow.

"We can work on it." He insisted. His finger slid inside of me, pumping just a few times before he added another. I fought the urge to writhe underneath him. _Jesus_ this could not be his first time because there was no way he'd learned this on his own. He ducked his head between my legs again, licking my clitoris while he pumped his fingers in and out. His other hand held my hip onto the mattress, fingers splayed across my stomach, I couldn't stop the moans that spilled from my mouth, lost in the moment.

I felt the familiar balloon of tension growing in my stomach, and I tried desperately to hold onto that feeling, unwilling to start over.

"Don't stop." I moaned out, my hips raising to give him better access. "I mean it, don't stop!" I warned, one of my hands grasped at the back of Stiles' head, the other grabbing at my chest. "Please, Stiles!" I called out, feeling closer and closer to my climax. Stiles didn't relent, and I only lasted a few more seconds before the waves of pleasure crashed over me, my back arching as I moaned. I settled down after a moment, my breathing heavy as Stiles remained between my legs.

"You are so hot when you come." He finally got out. He licked between my thighs once again, and I shivered as I felt the sensitivity shock me. "I could do that all day." He groaned out, beginning a line of kisses up my stomach. I remained speechless as he began kissing my neck, but my body finally seemed to catch up. I pushed him into his back, instructing him with my eyes to stay there. When I began raking my nails down his chest, he caught on, and one of his hands went behind his head while the other rested on the bed, waiting to see what I would do next. I paused at the hem of the basketball shorts, biting at his hip while he groaned. He was hard underneath them, and I ran my hand along his length. Stiles' groaned above me and pushed his hips into my hand, urging me to move on.

I slid my fingers between his shorts and the skin, slowly pulling them down while I looked up at Stiles. He had his bottom lip between his teeth, chewing on it while watching my movements.

"Take them off." I ordered, referring to his shorts.

"But you were doing such a great job!" Stiles protested, although he sat up to pull them off. I grinned as he kicked them and his boxers off, using my free hand to push him back down on top of the bed. Stiles was five or six inches long, although his girth was large. I kissed his hip, licking my way to the base. I pressed a kiss there and took the base in one hand before licking all the way to the tip. I stopped to make eye contact with Stiles, whose jaw had dropped. When I put the entire tip into my mouth, he groaned, his head tilting back onto the pillow. I fit as much as I could into my mouth, wetting his entire dick before I began bobbing up and down, the fist I had made around the base following my mouth. "Oh my-" Stiles kept mumbling. The hand that had been on the bed wound it's way into my hair, gripping it hard but not directing me.

When I began speeding up, Stiles suddenly pulled me back from him. "We can continue that later." He pulled me on top of him, the hand in my hair guiding me to kiss him, while the other hand grabbed my ass, pulling me closer to his dick. However, being aware of the danger of teen pregnancy, I reached into my nightstand and grabbed a condom, ripping it open before he could disagree.

"Yes, yes absolutely safety first." Stiles agreed, allowing me to slide it on. When it was in place, I raised my hips above his, allowing him to position it for me before I slowly slid on. "Look at me." Stiles urged, the hand in my hair moving to my neck. "I want you to look at me." He whispered quietly. I did as he asked, my hands on his shoulders keeping me steady while our eyes burned into one another. I groaned as he filled me and stated still for a moment. He didn't dare move, but he kept our eyes locked.

"You feel so, so good." He told me, moving his hips a fraction away before pushing up into me. I moaned and my eyes inadvertently slid up to the ceiling, my hands balling into fists. Stiles stopped, waiting for a moment. "Look at me." He whispered again. I tilted my head down to resume our eye contact, my body feeling as though it was on fire. This time, when he pushed his hips into mine, I moaned his name. Stiles lip caught between his teeth and he closed his eyes, moving a bit more up and down. My hands slid off of his chest and onto the bed, bringing our faces closer together. "I love it when you say my name." He groaned out, the hand on my hip bringing me further up and down on him. I moaned into his ear, and his eyes suddenly snapped open. The hand that had been resting on my neck pushed me off of him, and I landed next to where Stiles had been laying. He pushed my legs aside and settled between them, one elbow resting next to his head while the other guided him into me. Both of my arms reached up his back, rubbing him while he pushed into me. Once he'd begun a steady rhythm, he pulled one of my legs to rest on his hip before sliding it up to my neck, caressing the skin. "Say my name."

"Stiles. . ." I moaned out, my eyes closing in bliss.

"Louder." He picked up his pace, the leg that had been hooked onto his hip sliding off. He reached down and pushed it up higher than it had been before, allowing him to go deeper. My groans grew louder, and I raked my fingers down his back, moaning his name out again. I pulled him into a kiss, our tongues pressing each others' with urgency, biting and pulling each others lips as he slammed into me. I could hear the headboard banging into a wall but didn't even care, instead focusing on Stiles.

The hand that had been holding my leg down reached between my legs rubbing my clit while he tried to keep up the pace. "I want to hear you scream." He groaned out, dipping his head to my neck. He suddenly bit down, and I called out, my nails dragging on his back. "Louder." He commanded, rubbing faster at my clit. The little ball of tension had already begun growing, and with every pump Stiles pushed me closer. Loud moans poured out of my mouth, urging Stiles on.

"I'm so close." I groaned out, and he bit down on my neck again. I yelled out when the ball snapped inside of me, the muscles of my vagina trying to tighten around Stiles. He suddenly groaned into my ear, pushing as far in as he could a few times before settling in the crook of my neck.

After a second of rest, he rolled off of me, pulling the condom off and tossing it into a waste basket before sliding his boxers back on. I rolled into his side when he laid down, tossing an arm and a leg over him.

"That was great." I commented after a minute. Stiles kissed my forehead, an arm around my back pulling me closer. "It wasn't your first time, was it?" I asked curiously.

"Actually, it was." I opened an eye at his answer to see him staring at the ceiling.

"Well did I do a good job?" I asked curiously. He nodded and looked down at me.

"I actually can't remember, can you show me again?" He asked with a grin. I laughed and tightened my arm around him, snuggling into his side.

* * *

 **And there you have it. Stiles and Claire's first time together. Awwww hope you guys enjoyed. Please remember to review! I've got maybe 2 or 3 chapters left in this story. Let me know if you would like a sequel!**

 **Shout out to Izi Wilson and my mysterious guests for always reviewing!**


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